Unbiased
by EvilFuzzy9
Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.
1. An Objective Analysis

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Humor(...ish)/Adventure (_maybe?_)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due.

* * *

Tsunade glared darkly at the paper in her hands. It was a report on the matches from the final phase of the Chuunin Exams, including notes on the various candidates.

Since Sarutobi-sensei had kind of _died_ before he could officially name his choices for promotion, it was up to the newly inaugurated Godaime to sift through the various notes and decide who would make the cut for promotion. She had to thoroughly examine the reports and build a mental picture of how each match had gone, and then from that decide who would make a good chuunin and who could benefit from some more experience as a genin.

While this was one of the least demanding tasks before her, still the Honorable Fifth could not help but stare at this particular sheet of paper like it had just personally insulted her mother.

_Sasuke Uchiha is clearly already at chuunin level, and I would strongly recommend him for promotion._

Tsunade blinked, and looked back up at the summary of the Uchiha's match. She checked the notes accompanying it.

_Displayed high taijutsu aptitude, including exceptional speed for any shinobi, let alone one as young as himself._

_Showed good skill with shurikenjutsu._

_Demonstrated an A-rank assassination technique, and managed to seriously wound his opponent._

She looked back, again, at the comment at the bottom of the paper, which recommended Sasuke for promotion. She reread it three times.

She groaned, and swore at Shizune for hiding her sake.

"What part of his match made the Uchiha look like good chuunin material?" she muttered, peering scathingly at another sheet which held a detailed play-by-play from Sasuke's fight. "Judging by these reports... all he did was attack his opponent head on."

She harrumphed, shaking her head at how easily some people were won over by the Uchiha name and a bit of fancy footwork.

"Even if I ignore how he wound up comatose in that hospital room..." Tsunade muttered, absentmindedly recalling the promise Naruto had extracted from her, and Jiraiya's own report on the scuffle. "...nothing in this report shows him demonstrating any of the qualities we're supposed to look for in chuunin."

The village's standards must have slipped a _lot_ in Sarutobi-sensei's old age if even the ninja could be impressed by something like that match. While the format of the final phase of the Chuunin Exam wasn't technically the best for testing actual leadership abilities, a contestant's showing could still generally serve as a good indicator of their tactical aptitude and inclinations.

And these reports on Sasuke's match showed almost **no** strategy employed on the Uchiha's part. Most of the notes she had gone through basically amounted to a whole lot of gushing about the boy's physical prowess and combat ability, with no real critical analysis.

Tsunade scoffed.

"Seriously, I don't know what kind of Chuunin Exams _this_ joker passed," she muttered, glancing at the paper which contained the recommendation for Sasuke's promotion, "but back in MY day, skill in a fight was one of the last things they actually tested for."

And this was very much true. She and her teammates had passed the Chuunin Exams themselves at such a very young age _not_ because they had been good in a scrap, but because they had each demonstrated a firm grasp of strategy, and a fundamental understanding of the qualities necessary for chuunin squad leaders. Jiraiya lost his own match miserably, but he showed enough quick thinking and resourcefulness to convince the village higher ups that he was_ worth_ promoting.

She and Orochimaru had better showings than Jiraiya, in terms of the ability to fight and win their matches, but half of their success – again – had derived from clever strategies and deceptive tactics which enabled them to come out on top despite being matched up against enemies far stronger and more experienced than themselves.

Sasuke, for however well he might have done in his match against Gaara – who, judging by references to earlier phases of the exams, possessed some very formidable ninjutsu in his own right – had simply gone headlong into the fight with no attempts at strategy. Certainly, one could argue (and several of the commentators _did_) that the Uchiha had simply been biding his time until an opening for him to use _chidori_ presented itself, but Tsunade came from an old and traditionalist school of thought.

A single high level technique. Even if it WAS an A-rank assassination jutsu known by only one other person, one impressive jutsu could hardly a chuunin make. Tsunade had seen plenty of Chuunin Exam contestants who had boasted inordinately advanced or powerful ninjutsu, but still fallen utterly short of the mark.

And Sasuke had apparently failed to even properly finish his opponent, despite going at him with such an efficient killing move as Kakashi's chidori. A more forgiving person might have said that this was simply a testament to the strength of Gaara's own defenses, but Tsunade saw it in a rather different light. _Especially_ considering what she knew of how recklessly the boy had charged a certain S-class rogue ninja.

It seemed clear to Tsunade from the reports she'd read that Sasuke had barely been able to control his chidori. Which, in her mind, counted as another mark against the boy's promotion. She had seen this kind of mentality which compelled young ninja to try out cool and impressive new jutsu before even mastering them many times before over the years.

Almost invariably, those who possessed such brash and reckless temperaments wound up in early graves, dying senseless deaths trying to pull off a technique too difficult for them in a situation where they could have easily survived through the use of much simpler and more basic ninjutsu. Such people were the very LAST sorts you'd want to see as team leaders, which was precisely what chuunin were _supposed_ to be.

Quite frankly, Tsunade was of the opinion that Sasuke Uchiha was in need of a serious attitude adjustment before he could even be _considered_ as a chuunin candidate. Promoting him now would only reinforce the kid's bad habits, and most likely fuel a false sense of superiority.

Maybe Tsunade's Senju heritage made her a _tiny bit biased_ against young Sasuke, especially considering certain subtle and worrying similarities to a particular former teammate of hers. But with how much special treatment he seemed to have been getting almost everywhere else, Tsunade supposed it was only fair of her to balance things out.

Seriously, she had NEVER heard of match in the Chuunin Exams getting postponed. In her many years of experience, failure to show up on time automatically disqualified you. Punctuality was one of the most fundamental necessities in a shinobi – if a genin couldn't be trusted to show up on time to the stadium, how could they be trusted to finish time-sensitive missions, or carry out any kind of serious duty?

"Sarutobi-sensei really was getting too old to lead, letting himself get pushed around like that..." she murmured, reading an after-action report from one Raidou Namiashi.

Despite all precedent and protocol pointing toward Sasuke's disqualification, the late Sandaime had let himself be pressured by a foreign leader into compromising the integrity of the Chuunin Exams just to please a few fat aristocrats. And Tsunade couldn't help the slight shiver down her spine as she recalled that particular report, knowing full well that this "foreign leader" had in fact been Orochimaru impersonating the Fourth Kazekage.

For the Lord Third to have not even suspected this... he really had been slipping. It was depressing to think that the man she had once admired so deeply could have fallen so far with the passage of years. He had clearly been burned out and tired, only barely even able to carry out his duties as hokage.

With a sigh, Tsunade marked her final decision on Sasuke, before moving on.

_This brat is a hundred years too early to be trusted with the responsibilities of a chuunin._

* * *

Five candidates from the Leaf. One was set for promotion, two had been firmly denied, and one didn't even get the chance to show their quality.

Twenty or so minutes after making her decision on the matter of Sasuke's consideration for promotion, Tsunade looked down at the reports on the last Konoha chuunin candidate.

_Naruto Uzumaki_

She couldn't help an amused snort as she read through the play-by-play of the rambunctious blond's match, from her recent familiarity with the boy finding herself able to quite vividly envision his fight against the Hyuuga prodigy.

As she would have expected, considering the boy's showing against such a high level opponent as Orochimaru's little hanger on, he had demonstrated no small amount of grit and determination in taking on an opponent who, on paper, seemed to be in almost every way his superior.

A pleasant surprise, however, came to Tsunade when she sat back and visualized the fight, analyzing the two contestants' strategies. As the fight played out, unfolding before her mind's eye, a shinobi as experienced as herself having no difficulty working from such detailed reports, she soon came to notice something very interesting. _Especially_ considering the highly critical analysis most of the commentators had given the boy's match.

Frowning and slowly shaking her head, opening her eyes, Tsunade glanced down at some of the notes on Naruto's performance.

_A very good genin, but still a little too headstrong and brash for chuunin consideration._

_The fight was impressive, but Naruto's grasp of strategy is a little lacking._

_I would not recommend this boy for promotion quite yet. Maybe with another year of experience under his belt, but not as he is now._

Tsunade cocked her head, staring at these papers. She looked back at the play-by-play, carefully perusing it and critically analyzing every stage of the boy's performance as described in the report.

After a couple minutes of this, she leaned back in her seat and gave a low hum.

Grabbing a pen, she decided to try and work through this on paper to see if there was something she was missing. She quickly scrawled out a basic break down of Naruto's performance as she understood it from the reports:

_showed considerable aptitude with a jonin level technique (shadow clone jutsu)_

_firstly, employed above technique to engage opponent (who used hyuuga gentle fist) without putting self in harm's way_

_secondly, employed the same technique to trick enemy into attacking a clone (having one of his shadow clones hang back to make opponent think it was the original) and in the opening presented in this moment attempted a surprise attack from behind_

_demonstrated also ability to tap into his "other" chakra without any loss of control; showed greatly increased speed, strength, and reflexes while using this chakra_

_lastly, used this power boost to attack opponent. foe countered with kaiten, and both were flung apart. under cover of smoke from this explosion, candidate dug underground while leaving a shadow clone in his place. lured foe into believing they had won, before striking with a final blow from beneath. _

Tsunade, having finished this, then took a metaphorical step back and carefully analyzed her own analysis. It was clear to her that, unlike Shikamaru Nara who had painstakingly plotted out every move of his own strategy, Naruto had been flying by the seat of his pants.

When his first strategy proved insufficient to combat his opponent, Neji handily countering the full frontal charge from the shadow clones, Naruto employed a variation of that strategy. While making it look like he was doing the same basic maneuver twice, he sneaked up alongside his own _bunshin_, purposely having one clone hang back in the same way he had during his first move.

Neji, thus tricked into attacking a shadow clone, thinking it was the real Naruto and hence believing that the clones would dissipate once he hit his target, left his back open. In the moment of realization when the clone burst, Naruto launched an attack from behind. Neji still managed to counter this, however, able to see the coming attack thanks to his byakugan.

After that, Neji appeared to dominate the fight with his superior taijutsu, even managing to seal up Naruto's tenketsu with the Sixty-Four Palms technique. Despite this apparent defeat, however, Naruto was able to draw on the fox's chakra and force the closed tenketsu back open. In the brief skirmish that followed, Naruto demonstrated physical abilities which well surpassed Neji's.

Then, after an attempted attack was just barely deflected by a desperate kaiten from Neji, Naruto executed one last ploy, under the cover of smoke and dust leaving a shadow clone in the crater where he landed, and secretly tunneling under the arena while his opponent gloated over their apparent victory.

Finally, Naruto succeeded in landed an attack squarely on Neji, ambushing the unprepared Hyuuga from below and finishing the match with one last punch.

It was no masterfully executed plan, but any experienced commander could tell you that the ability to improvise in a combat situation was one of the most valuable abilities a team leader could possess. Complex strategies which relied on the enemy making exactly the moves you predicted, such as the one Shikamaru had employed in his fight against Temari, might have seemed more impressive to the average layman, but in reality they were very difficult to carry off, and any one element out of place could bring the whole thing crashing down.

Naruto, in contrast, while by no means a strategic genius was still able to devise and employ a number of simple but effective tactics ranging from basic sleight of hand to careful misdirection. Some people would have said that Naruto only barely won that match, getting by on just the skin of his teeth. And they wouldn't have necessarily been _wrong_, either.

Neji was an exceptionally skilled fighter, and Naruto had been only barely hanging on near the end. In Tsunade's opinion, however, rather than counting against him this fact _emphasized_ what tactical abilities the boy did have. One of the most elementary precepts of shinobi discipline was defeating technically superior enemies through quick thinking and teamwork.

A handful of the reports Tsunade had read criticized Naruto for repeatedly trying to tackle his enemy head on, which in her opinion completely ignored what had actually happened in that fight. She didn't even bother listening to those people.

More commonly, however, she saw criticisms of the fact that Naruto had kept throwing himself back into the fray even when it seemed like he was completely outmatched. And this was certainly a valid point – there _were_ many times when a team's well-being had to be weighed against the success of a mission, times when prudence proved the better part of valor.

In her mind, however, she saw also the flip side of this: at many other times, the mission had to be put above one's own well being, or even the lives of one's teammates. There were many times when a team leader would be expected, even _obligated_ to continue on against seemingly impossible odds. Sometimes the most important skill for a leader was simply the ability to convince their men to march determinedly to their own deaths.

And, keeping in mind how the boy had been able to ultimately inspire even a cold, hardened cynic like her, Tsunade had the feeling that Naruto would prove a natural at charismatic leadership. Honestly, despite what some of the commentators might have said, Naruto was in his own way just as qualified as Shikamaru to become a team leader.

Compared to someone as reckless as Sasuke, the only real risk of promoting Naruto, in Tsunade's opinion, was that he might very well become insufferably cocky over it. But she also trusted that Kakashi would be able to beat that out of him given a week's time or so.

Hardly anyone was a _perfect_ chuunin the moment they were promoted. And considering the shape of the Leaf's middle and upper ranks in the aftermath of the Sand-Sound invasion, certain standards would naturally have to be lowered a little.

Not enough for Sasuke or Neji to rate a promotion, but Naruto could at least make the cut along with Shikamaru. And maybe there was just a little bit of nepotism behind that decision, but no one was _completely_ unbiased.

It may have only been through her grandmother, but Tsunade was STILL part Uzumaki.

* * *

A/N: I've seen this sort of concept done a time or two before, but usually not too terribly well. And rereading through the last stretch of the Chuunin Exams arc, I noticed something Genma said to Sasuke before sending him after the Sand Siblings.

_"You're already at chuunin level. If you consider yourself a Konoha shinobi, go do something useful."_

Being fair, I suppose one could argue that Genma was referring solely to combat ability, or even just saying this to goad Sasuke into pursuing the Sand Sibs, but it still irked me a little after stopping to think about it. If you compared the showings of Sasuke and Naruto, looking primarily at strategy employed (which is allegedly one of the most important deciding factors in selecting new chuunin), you would find...

...that all Sasuke did was probe Gaara's defenses a bit, show off taijutsu that was, admittedly, at Lee's level, and use an A-rank assassination technique... to give his opponent a wound just a few steps above superficial, considering how, at most an hour or two afterwards, Gaara was able to pull off his full transformation _anyways_. It was impressive in terms of how much Sasuke had increased his abilities in just one month, but as far as qualifying him to become a chuunin...?

All he really did, strategically, was throw a few kicks and punches and shuriken. If Gaara hadn't been so unstable by that point as to almost immediately begin long, sloow process of his bijuu transformation, Sasuke would have _never_ had an opening long enough to charge up and execute a chidori.

I'm not bashing him, though. I do kinda like Sasuke's character in a meta sort of way, even if he is often a massive prick. I just don't think it was fair of Genma to say that _Sasuke_ of all people was already at chuunin level with only that short fight as reference.

And so this mild point of contention with the words of a fictional character led me to create this. Which I suppose to work as a mildly ranty one shot, or maybe as a lead in to a NON smut multi-chapter fic.

**Updated:** 10-15-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


	2. Kakashi's Convictions

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Humor(...ish)/Adventure (_maybe?_)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

Naruto was doing his hardest to pretend not to be happy as he left the hospital. Things had largely turned out better than even he had hoped, and the boy was naturally cheery to know that things could _finally_ start going back to normal.

Sasuke was still disoriented after waking up from his genjutsu-induced coma and had a bit trouble recognizing his surroundings, but at least he _was_ awake and slowly recovering from his ordeal. He had looked oddly at Naruto, narrowing his eyes and grimacing at the sight of his male teammate, but then the blond often had similar reactions to Sasuke, so he brushed it off as nothing.

Kakashi-sensei had also come out of his coma thanks to the new hokage's medical prowess. The jounin sensei of Team Seven was listless and drowsy when he first woke up, but he nonetheless seemed to be recuperating fairly well now. Tsunade had given him a bit of ribbing over being taken down by Sasuke's brother and that other guy, though.

Lee had been a more depressing matter, but Tsunade had said that she was still willing to _try_ if Lee was ready to take the risk. Naruto didn't really understand it all, but he at least got the idea that things with Lee were maybe not quite so good.

That downer aside, however, after the obligatory hugging and fussing over Sasuke, Sakura had actually turned around and _smiled_ at Naruto, thanking him for bringing Tsunade back to the village!

_"I don't know everything that happened..."_ she'd said to him, beaming like a ray of sunshine._ "But Tsunade-sama told me that you were the one who convinced her to come back."_

The smile Sakura gave him, then... was worth all of the pain and frustration of the searching and the fighting. The memory of that grateful expression on her face warmed his heart and lifted his spirits a hundred times more than anything else in the world ever could, or so it seemed.

_"Thank you, Naruto."_

Her words echoed still in his mind, setting butterflies to flutter about in his stomach.

With a skip in his step and a cheerful tune on his lips, Naruto strutted down the street towards his home, feeling like he was on top of the world. He could not have been happier at that moment, and the grin on his face clearly showed it.

Standing half concealed in the branches of a nearby tree, Jiraiya quietly chuckled as he watched his newest protege go.

"Heh... a total sucker for a pretty face," the man mused, guessing well enough at the subject of his pupil's thoughts. "But I suppose that's only natural."

He shook his head, a long and snowy mane swaying slightly side to side. Jiraiya couldn't help but think back on the brief conversation he'd had with Tsunade before she'd headed off to the hospital.

"Kid's gonna flip when he hears," the toad summoner sniggered, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the tree trunk. "All three of 'em, probably."

Jiraiya laughed.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a real eventful day."

* * *

Kakashi was reading in his hospital bed when he first got the news. Shizune had been refilling his water pitcher when she let slip that there had been a little bit of a tiff between Tsunade and the Lord Third's advisors over one of her choices for promotion to chuunin.

_Apparently_, it'd had something to do with one of _his_ students.

For someone as bright as the famed Copy Ninja, it was a simple matter of elimination to conclude who Shizune meant. Sakura had not competed in the finas, thus she did not qualify for consideration. And even Kakashi, who had spent a whole month privately training the boy almost solely for his match against Gaara, had to admit that Sasuke's showing had not been sufficient to warrant a promotion.

Doubly certain was his conclusion when he recalled what Sakura had told him of Naruto's fight with Neji. The girl was bright, and had a good eye for detail. She was still impressionable and a little too quick to make assumptions, to be sure, but she'd nonetheless relayed the basic sequence of events from Naruto's match very clearly and concisely.

With other jounin having filled in the blanks for him after the fact, Kakashi was pretty sure that the only student of his who would have merited Tsunade's endorsement for promotion, based solely on their showing in the Chuunin Exams, was _Naruto_. And he could also guess why there might have been a bit of a disagreement over this choice.

While Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were very wise and respected shinobi, they were also a bit more hardline and conservative than their old teammate, the Lord Third. And, looking at it objectively, Kakashi could see why Naruto might be a controversial choice for promotion in their eyes. Resentment and fear of the Nine-Tails lingered thickly, even thirteen years after the kyuubi attack.

While neither of Sarutobi-sama's former advisors were ignorant enough to equate the cage with the prisoner, Kakashi knew enough about jinchuuriki in other lands to see why they might be leery. Most especially considering that Sasuke's opponent, Gaara of the Sands, had quite clearly been the vessel of the sand spirit Shukaku.

The younger generation might not have known the signs, but Kakashi had studied enough of the lore surrounding bijuu to recognize the fairly well-documented powers of the Ichibi. This was a chief factor in why he'd taken the risk of teaching Sasuke a technique as powerful as his chidori.

Kakashi, young as he was, had still been able to recognize the signs of a demon possession technique. He had absolutely no doubts that the elders – and others – would have been able to see this just as well.

The unstable, frankly psychotic demeanor of the One-Tail's jinchuuriki had been a chilling reminder of just what Naruto was, and what he very well could have become. Probably the elders feared that Naruto could _still _become like this, which was the likeliest reason for them to oppose his promotion.

Kakashi did not begrudge them this fear, no matter how baseless it might have seemed from his perspective. The hokage's advisers did not know Naruto, and did not realize what sort of person he really was deep down.

Of all the things Kakashi Hatake feared could ever _possibly_ happen (and being former ANBU, it was practically a hobby for him to contemplate all the myriad ways any given situation could go FUBAR) the one thing he did _not_ worry about was Naruto turning on his comrades.

When you were all alone in the world, even the slightest bit of interaction seemed like the perfect impetus to form an unbreakable bond. Naruto had latched onto Sasuke, Sakura, and himself like a lamprey, absolutely refusing to let go no matter what happened. He would sooner fling himself over the side of a cliff than hurt one of them.

...aside from _maybe_ Sasuke, depending on the current mood between the two of them.

Kakashi grinned a little, shaking his head in amused exasperation at the thought of the rivalry between his two male pupils. It wasn't quite the same dynamic as had existed between him and Obito – Sasuke, no matter what he might say to others, clearly acknowledged and even slightly empathized with Naruto. He accepted Naruto as someone like himself, if not necessarily an _equal_.

(Kakashi hadn't been willing to acknowledge Obito until it was far too late)

Those two were more alike on the inside than most people would ever imagine. Sasuke's peers saw him as a natural genius, as did much of the village, but Kakashi had been Itachi Uchiha's mentor in the ANBU. He knew what the Uchiha clan considered to be genius, and even for all of the talent Sasuke showed now, he would not have been seen as one by his kin.

Kakashi was probably one of the only people who had ever seen how hard Sasuke actually pushed himself. Guy's pupil had talked about overcoming genius with hard work... but, honestly, as a man who had been considered one of the Hidden Leaf's most brilliant prodigies _ever_, Kakashi understood that genius and hard work were not opposing concepts. Only through the latter could one become the former, regardless of whatever bloodlines, talents, or unique resources one might have had at one's disposal.

Certainly, there was an element of genetics in the speed of Sasuke's growth. For very good reason had the Uchiha been considered one of the most fearsome shinobi clans in the world. Along with the Senju and Hyuuga, and a handful of others, they had been almost singularly adapted to ninjutsu, their bodies evolving little by little over innumerable generations to possess a peculiarly potent chakra and a certain degree of innate reflex that made them almost uniquely suited to the shinobi disciplines.

But without training, all the raw talent in the world would be useless. And Sasuke had not been a particularly gifted child, certainly not when compared to his brother. By the standards of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke was still only a couple steps above ordinary.

Only through an intense, singular devotion to training had the boy come even this far. Lee had been an extraordinarily hard worker in his own right, Kakashi was sure, but Sasuke's dedication to self-improvement was truthfully well over the line and deep into the realm of _unhealthy_. The boy sacrificed everything else, devoting every free minute of his day to training.

Kakashi had been forced to tie Sasuke down more than once just to keep him from doing permanent damage to his body, over the course of that month he'd spent preparing the boy for the final phase of the Chuunin Exams. No matter how many times he'd told Sasuke that muscles grew stronger through overcompensation in mending – the fibers knitting back together a little tougher and denser every time they tore – and that only by giving himself time to heal in between sessions of training could he actually get stronger, the boy had refused to sit still.

Ultimately, Kakashi had needed to carefully devise and enforce a very strict regimen of alternating development. He would have Sasuke work one group of muscles one day, another group the next, and a third group the day after that, before going back to the first group. This, together with necessarily frequent intervals of training in basic lightning nature transformation, and a modest application of very rudimentary medical ninjutsu (little better than basic first aid, by the standards of Konoha's medic-nin corps) on Kakashi's part, allowed Sasuke to maximize the speed of his physical development during the month of rest and training allotted to contestants before the final phase of the Chuunin Exams.

Honestly, Kakashi suspected that part of the reason Lee had not been at a much higher level despite the utter intensity of Guy's personal taijutsu regimen was that the boy had worked himself _too_ hard, and too often, without taking the necessary time to rest. Guy had probably been too indulgent in letting the kid keep working even when he should have been recuperating – most tellingly seeing as how the nurses had been almost entirely incapable of keeping Lee from training, even with the bones in his left arm and leg close to completely shattered.

Those attempts to continue his workout regimen had only exacerbated Lee's condition. There were times when working through the pain was advisable, even necessary, but when that pain happened to be coming from fragments of bone tearing apart your muscles...

Kakashi sighed. He respected Guy deeply, and the man's methods obviously _worked_, considering how a boy who had once been so untalented as to not even qualify for entrance into the Academy had ultimately managed to become one of the absolute strongest shinobi in the Leaf. Even without opening any of the Inner Gates, Guy possessed physical prowess to easily crush all but the strongest of foes. But that utterly singleminded dedication to training was probably half of the reason Lee's condition had gotten so bad.

Sasuke was actually very similar to Lee, in that respect. In the long run, if Sasuke didn't learn to take the time to rest and recuperate as needed, then Naruto's growth really would ultimately surpass him. In some ways, the boy was already beyond Sasuke's level, able to defeat a foe a league above one who had handily bested the Uchiha. And it wasn't merely work ethic that let Naruto grow so quickly, once he had finally been given some real direction in his training.

The most mundane and basic effect of having the Nine-Tails sealed inside him let Naruto grow physically at a rate which could potentially exceed even Sasuke's development, if the latter never learned to let himself rest. Being able to completely recover from most injuries with nothing more than a good night's rest meant Naruto's muscles could grow that little bit faster. Unlike most others, the boy wouldn't need to alternate muscle groups, or pace himself at the same rate as an ordinary person.

Half of the reason jinchuuriki were prized and feared was because of their immense chakra, and the potential for bijuu transformation. The other half was because of how the regeneration factor could let them develop their physical strength and durability far faster than practically any ordinary person. It was generally considered dubiously ethical to accelerate muscular growth with medical jutsu, but most also saw the natural regeneration of bijuu as perfectly fair game.

Of course, this accelerated growth came at a considerable cost. Even apart from degrading seals or rampaging bijuu, jinchuuriki usually had unfortunately short lifespans. Even if a shinobi could perfectly master and control the beast within them, the thing that would most likely be their undoing was also the very thing that let them outpace all of their peers.

Telomeres shortened with every cell division. A person's DNA allowed for only so many replications before the code would begin to break down. Whether it was for growth or healing, every cell in the body had a limited warranty. Cells needed to be replaced every few months, wearing down naturally with time.

The production of new cells gradually added up. With every split from the prenatal originals, the chromosome grew a few amino acids shorter. The telomeres on the end of the DNA strand acted as a buffer, a disposable length of genetic sequence intended solely to prevent loss of information from the parts of the chromosome that actually mattered. But every replication cut a little bit more off the end, and after a given number of cell divisions, there would be no more telomere to sacrifice.

That was usually when degenerative aging became apparent. Parts of the body, regions which took the most damage over the course of one's life, would slowly lose integrity as information was gradually lost from the chromosomes with every cell division. Skin would become less elastic, less capable of regaining its shape after deforming. Wrinkles would emerge. Bones would become brittle, connective tissues in the joints less reliable.

Sensory acuity would deteriorate, eyesight, smell, taste, hearing all slowly becoming less reliable. Muscles would no longer be able to heal tears with such efficacy as they once could, each little sprain and exertion becoming more laborious as the body wore itself down.

Various metabolic systems would become less reliable. Digestion would be harder, bowels less regular and more irritable. Organs like the liver and kidneys would eventually become less able to filter out toxins, lymph nodes no longer capable of generating leukocytes as numerous or as strong as they once could. Autoimmune responses would become more taxing on the body, to the point where even once minor illnesses could pose a risk to one's life.

Even cognition would not be safe, if one was from a family susceptible to certain degenerative conditions. Dementia would rob clarity of thought and decision making, inhibit the formation and recollection of memories new and old – while mental exercises could stave this off, neural cells being made of tougher and more adaptable stuff than most, still it would be fighting an uphill battle.

A _losing_ battle.

For an ordinary person, the first signs of aging would become evident somewhere between the thirty-to-forty year mark. Depending on physical fitness and lifestyle, individuals could stay relatively active even into the sixties or higher. But eventually even the hardiest souls would become infirm and unmanned, time slowly robbing them of even their dignity if they did not have the dubious fortune of dying young.

Shinobi, for all that they kept themselves fit, also subjected their bodies to extreme stresses over the course of their careers. Those who survived long enough to experience the effects of old age might not look that much different on the outside, apart from old scars. Ninja who lived more nocturnal lifestyles might even look a bit younger than their civilian counterparts, their skin taking less damage from the sun than that of your average farmer or carpenter.

Internally, however, shinobi aged much more quickly. As early as the mid-thirties, many ninja might begin to feel indications of mild arthritis, the frequent contortions of hand seals doing no favors to the connective tissues in one's finger joints. Muscles would be fairly well deteriorated from their prime condition by the age of forty, physical exercise now doing arguably more harm than good. Bones would weaken drastically, severe and even crippling arthritis striking your average shinobi by the time they hit fifty.

Digestive systems fared better in comparison, ninja by necessity tending to subsist on healthier diets than most civilians, and heart problems or troubles with circulation were rare outside of trouble that might be caused by certain types of old wounds. Being placed under the effects of genjutsu could also have cumulative long-term effects on neural health. A few here or there might result in mild difficulties with memory. Exposure to a high enough number could cause symptoms similar to mild dementia.

And as for illusions as powerful as Itachi's _tsukuyomi_...

Kakashi looked down at his hands, noting the slight bit of difficulty he was still having with the fine, subtle motor control needed for turning the pages of Lord Jiraiya's erotic masterpiece.

...well, the physical effects could be rather accurately likened to those of a mild stroke. At his age, Kakashi could still recover from such a thing and regain all of his faculties with just a bit of minor rehabilitation. But he knew that as he grow older, the damage done by that genjutsu would begin to make itself known once more.

Tsunade's medical jutsu may have healed his brain, but in the long run the damage wasn't _gone_. Neurons that had been taxed by the forceful manipulation of the chakra in his nervous system, individual brain cells wrenched or even _fried_ by the unnatural flares of energy, would deteriorate that much sooner than those that had been less touched by the illusion.

The telomeres of the chromosomes within the parts of his brain Tsunade had healed were now that little bit shorter, that much closer to genetic degradation. He been awakened from his coma, the new hokage temporarily accelerating the division and replacement of his damaged neurons to help quicken his rehabilitation and return to active duty, but in exchange he'd had that many cell divisions taken off of his neurological lifespan.

Sometimes Kakashi almost wished he could be as blindly optimistic as Naruto or Sakura. But he knew and understood too much to think so innocently.

The damage from that illusion had not been erased or undone. Rather those parts of his brain were effectively a few months older than the rest, once more functioning but at the cost of a cycle or two being trimmed off the lifespan of those neurons.

From a certain point of view, all Tsunade's healing had done for the net health of his body was to shunt the burden of that damage further down the line. He was conscious now, but if he didn't die in the line of duty, or of unexpected illness, then he had a grim likelihood of dementia down the road. Neurological difficulties were almost certain to afflict him in his autumn years.

Genjutsu powerful enough to render a man comatose were hardly without any physical effects. The brain was as much a part of the body as the heart or liver. Just one brief session of ninjutsu healing could stir these quietly dreadful anxieties in the back of Kakashi's mind.

He thought of Naruto, and the constant accelerated regeneration afforded to him by the kyuubi. If the boy was aware of this yet, he probably thought of it as an unexpected blessing.

Kakashi, though, knew the downside of this. Jinchuuriki aged up to thirty or more percent faster than ordinary shinobi. This was before even taking into account the costs of an incomplete bijuu transformation.

He had known Kushina held the Nine-Tails. He'd seen what happened to her body the few times she had tapped into its chakra.

She'd told him once that pure-blooded Uzumaki had an average life expectancy almost half again, or even _twice_ that of ordinary people. If they took care of themselves, an Uzumaki could live a life three or more times as long as an ordinary person.

Assuming no other negative factors on his lifespan, and taking into account the diminishing returns of a diluted inheritance, Naruto could _maybe_ expect to live as long as an particularly healthy civilian.

Which was longer, to be sure, than all but the most fortunate of shinobi. Or a shinobi with only a quarter as much Uzumaki blood as him.

This was a little sad in its own way, but at least Naruto wouldn't have to face the tragically premature death that most jinchuuriki could expect. The younger a person was when a bijuu was placed in them, the greater a negative effect the accelerated regeneration would have on their lifespan.

And the kyuubi's chakra was exceptionally dense and corrosive. No one but an Uzumaki could realistically expect to survive more than ten years with the Nine-Tails sealed inside them.

Most wouldn't even last for one.

Closing his book, Kakashi mentally took a step back to briefly wonder just how the implied news of Naruto's promotion could have led to him thinking about such morbid things.

After a moment of contemplation, he concluded rather shrewdly that it probably had something to do with a subconscious association between his own promotion to jounin, and the mission which led to Obito's death.

A hint of steel coming into his open eye at this self-reminder of his biggest failure, Kakashi silently resolved that he would make absolutely sure his own students understood just how serious the responsibilities of leadership were. Naruto especially, but Sasuke and Sakura could also benefit from such a lecture.

"...Let's just hope Sasuke doesn't take the news too poorly," he mused wryly, trying to raise his own spirits with a little joke.

This worked about as long as it took him to realize how badly Sasuke _could_ take the news, especially when armed with a jutsu like chidori, weighed down with enough emotional trauma to fuel a lifetime's worth of depressing poetry, and still recovering from the effects of mild brain damage caused by a high level genjutsu from the very man who had slaughtered his entire family.

Kakashi immediately began rehearsing the most tactful and delicate ways to explain to Sasuke why Naruto had probably been promoted when he had not, on top of explaining to Naruto the responsibilities that would come with his new position.

"Now might be a good time to tell them..." he grimly mused, "...just _how_ I got this eye..."

* * *

A/N: Man, I'd meant Kakashi's scene to just be a part of the chapter, but his train of thought just kept flowing from my fingers until his "one scene" was longer than the entirety of the first chapter.

Also...

...Eheheh, whoops! When I went back to the manga to suss out a couple timeline uncertainties, I realized that Shikamaru had actually already gotten his promotion when Tsunade first arrived back in the village.

For the sake of this fic, I guess we'll call this an alternate timeline where the people in charge of those things decided to wait and ask her opinion. XD

(and let's also assume that Kakashi has at least a basic knowledge of jinchuuriki powers, because even in canon it's arguable that this may have been retconned into being the case...)

And, yes, that whole explanation of how medical ninjutsu accelerates aging is loosely based on actual science, specifically regarding the Hayflick Limit and cell-damage theory of aging. And the idea of genjutsu having actual tangible effects on the brain and nervous system... was something that came to me while writing, but it seems like a very logical assumption to make.

The idea that Sasuke post-Itachi-encounter is like a stroke victim in terms of physical damage done to his brain by Tsukuyomi actually makes a surprising amount of sense to me... damage to certain parts of the brain can cause striking changes in personality and temperament, impairment in decision making or other basic tasks, and any number of things aside from just memory loss or the like.

Which would greatly explain a LOT of Sasuke's behavior, especially during the events leading up to the Sasuke Retrieval arc. He's like a stroke victim with super powers, not quite able to connect certain things in the same way he was able to before the trauma. And in that vein, Sasuke sparing Naruto at the end of their battle could almost be seen as a part of him beginning to remember himself.

Of course, three years training under Orochimaru probably didn't do much good for his personality, and finding out the truth about Itachi kinda broke him in a whole other way.

However you interpret it, though, I feel like a crucial element of Sasuke's character arc is _trauma_, and learning how to cope with it. The longer the series goes on, the more poorly and illogically Sasuke deals with his own inner demons.

In that light, I honestly cannot bring myself to _hate_ the guy. He's like Gollum, in a way.

In other news, I have gotten my pre-order of _Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus_ in the mail, so my writing MIGHT slow down for a while.

**Updated:** 10-16-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


	3. Darkness and Light

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: General/Adventure (_maybe?_)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

"Yo, Naruto. You get called down here, too?"

Shikamaru Nara lazily greeted the blond, waving to the only graduating student from their year to get even an worse grade than himself.

There was a bit more familiarity in the salutation than the shadow-user would have employed with Naruto prior to the Chuunin Exams. He didn't smile, but the exasperated grimace on his face seemed a little smaller, and there was a glint of mild amusement in his eyes. Almost friendly, in a way.

Naruto raised one hand barely up past chest level, waving a single time in response. He was scowling at the ground, seeming faintly distracted. Irritated, almost.

"Hey, Shikamaru," he said. "Granny call for you, too?"

The ponytailed youth quirked an eyebrow at Naruto, eyeing the blond curiously.

"If by _granny_, you mean the hokage..." he muttered. "...then, yeah. A courier stopped by my house this morning. Said I was wanted at the ninja registry office."

Next to Shikamaru, an older man grinned knowingly. He wore his hair in the same fashion as the young Nara, and in many ways bore a striking resemblance to Shikamaru despite the facial hair and many scars.

"Your mother was so proud when she heard the news," he said to Shikamaru. "And so was I, for that matter! Hahaha!" He laughed, patting the lad on the back.

Naruto cocked his head to one side.

"Eh?" he said. "What would she be so proud about? You're just getting called down to registration, right...? How's she know you're not in trouble or something?"

Shikamaru sighed, and gave Naruto a weary, exhausted look.

"Trust me," he said, "I _wish_ I was in trouble. Maaan, this is a total pain in the neck..."

"Huh?" Naruto said. He was completely lost. Shikamaru wasn't making any sense to him. "Eh?"

The older man gave Naruto a once over, and hummed quietly.

"...I think you'll see what he means soon enough," he said, a glint of something like amusement in his eyes. He grinned at the blond, a rare display of positive acknowledgement toward the Uzumaki's existence.

Naruto stared uncomprehendingly at Shikamaru and his father.

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Bah," he muttered. "And I was even gonna pay Sasuke a visit..."

* * *

A sense of gloom pervaded the hospital room of Sasuke Uchiha. No conversation was had, no words spoken between the patient and his visitor. The only sound was a slight, wet, _shick-shick_ of apples being peeled.

The atmosphere was heavy. Melancholy and dark introspection. Sasuke was pale, staring bleakly down into his lap. His arms were slack, his body slumped over as if he did not have the strength to hold himself up straight.

His gaze was distant, not seeing what was before his eyes.

Sakura smiled softly as she peeled the skin from the apples, humming a near silent tune. She sat in a chair next to Sasuke's bed, her head bowed, quietly intent on her task.

Sasuke's eyes were half-lidded, the bags under them deep and dark. His shoulders slumped.

_"You're still too weak..." _

The words echoed in his mind, branded into his consciousness. He saw his brother's face shrouded in darkness, a three-pointed sharingan gleaming from the shadows.

_"...you don't have enough..."_

Sasuke grit his teeth, letting out a shuddering sigh. His breath was scarcely audible, eyes dull and near devoid of light.

_"...**hate**..."_

Sakura raised her head with a smile, plucking off the last strip of apple skin. She looked proud of herself for accomplishing this task, beaming like a little ray of sunshine.

Sasuke saw the expression on her face, and he grimaced. Unbidden, unwanted, he recalled the last time he had seen Sakura smiling like that.

_"...Sasuke... thanks,"_ she had said, a look of quiet gratitude etched into her face. _"...you saved me from the sand gauntlet."_

He bit his lower lip, gut wrenching painfully as he thought of it. Nauseous, he felt, yet his stomach was empty, with naught to disgorge but acid and bile. He tasted as much on the back of his tongue, swallowing again the bitter reminder of his own failures.

It had galled him to tell her the truth, but he also had known that to let her keep this false belief would have burned at his conscience more deeply. His pride was wounded, scarred and shamed.

_"It wasn't me..."_ he told her, his words coming out harsher than he had meant.

He remembered the confusion in her eyes, the perplexed and wondering look she gave him. As if to ask: "_If not you, then who...?"_

He swallowed, throat swollen and dry. He shivered, a subtle convulsion of his frame.

A sigh escaped his lips, unnoticed by Sakura.

_"Naruto's the one who rescued you. He fought desperately in order to save you... even showing a strength I've never seen from him before."_

Sasuke grit his teeth, a cold sweat trickling down his brow. His eyes narrowed.

_Naruto..._ he thought.

He saw the hundreds of clones the boy had produced, the coordination of a thousand different bodies. Shuriken flying from every direction, fists and feet furiously striking a body of chakra and sand.

Sasuke shuddered. His brow furrowed, and his lips curled unconsciously back. His nose wrinkled, sweat dripping more heavily.

He saw the jutsu Naruto performed, a technique like nothing Sasuke had ever seen before. _Kuchiyose no jutsu_, but on a whole other level. He had scarcely understood, until then, just how formidable the summoning arts could be...

A tailed-beast. A boss-level toad summon.

The parallels were striking, a subtle similarity which galled Sasuke that little bit more. It was a tale well known to Konoha schoolchildren, the story of the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice.

It simply should not have been. Naruto should not have had anywhere near that kind of strength. How could that idiot, that joker who had never even been able to do a halfway decent clone jutsu... possibly fight and _win_ against an enemy that even jounin would balk at?

Naruto... who _was_ that boy? Sasuke had thought he'd known. He'd thought Naruto was just another loser, another talentless wannabe who would only drag him down in the long run.

_"I am not here for you, little brother."_

Sasuke trembled. His eyes flashed.

Why him? Why _Naruto? _What was so special about that... that...?

He gnashed his teeth.

The more he thought about it, the more it burned at his mind. Questions without answers, questions he should have been asking years ago.

_Why Naruto?_

That boy... couldn't actually be a member of _that_ clan, could he...? The name was not unknown to Sasuke, who had studied many of the oldest families in hopes of learning more about his own. He knew who they were, who they had been in a time before even his father's.

_Uzumaki_.

An ancient lineage, noble and mighty, such as could rival even the Senju, who had themselves rivaled the Uchiha, his own family. Uzumaki. One of the eldest and most powerful of shinobi clans, masters of sealing, long-lived and possessed of an exceptionally potent chakra.

Driven to near-extinction when his own parents were but children, crushed by an alliance of three shinobi villages, scattered to the four corners of the earth before the Leaf could even come to their aid.

The Uzumaki were dead. Their clan was gone, wiped out before Sasuke was even a twinkle in his parents' eyes.

Naruto... Naruto Uzumaki.

It couldn't be. Surely that name was just a coincidence. A fluke. A mistake, even.

That boy couldn't _possibly_...

Sasuke shuddered.

...but, still...

...what if he _was?_

Long ago, Sasuke had met those eyes, and seen a similar pain in them. He had felt the slightest flicker of kinship.

Naruto had been alone, just like him. In that one way, at least, they had been alike.

Similar.

Maybe even more similar than Sasuke could have ever imagined...

If Naruto truly was a member of _that_ clan... then he had to be one of the last members alive. The last remaining legacy of an ancient and powerful clan.

But it couldn't be.

It just _couldn't_...

...Right...?

Sakura sat up, holding a tray of sliced fruit.

"Sasuke, have some apples!" she said.

There was something in her tone, some trace of simple happiness utterly removed from awareness of his own suffering and doubt, that absolutely galled Sasuke. So lost in his own thoughts, drowning in dark and silent contemplation, he had nearly forgotten her presence.

Her voice caused something inside of him to snap. Growling, he lashed out.

The plate was thrown from Sakura's hands, carefully peeled and sliced apple bits flying everywhere.

"Gah...!" she yelped, shocked by this sudden violence.

Sasuke stared out the window, glaring at the open sky, and the village outside.

Sakura looked at him, shivering slightly. But fear quickly faded from her expression, leaving behind only concern, a deep and sincere worry for the well being of her teammate.

She cared about him, and his behavior clearly distressed her.

"S-Sasuke..." she whispered.

"..."

He did not answer.

* * *

"Yahoo! I'm a chuunin!"

This cry rang out from the foot of the Leaf's shinobi administration building. A blond, orange-clad bundle of energy skipped up the steps from the ninja registry office, a forest green flak vest slung haphazardly over his shoulder.

Naruto Uzumaki was beaming cheerfully, filled to the brim with a bright and bottomless verve. Sky blue eyes glittered with cheer, a toothy grin gleaming in the sunlight.

Up behind him came the much more subdued Shikamaru, the Nara followed by his proudly grinning father.

"Geez..." Shikamaru muttered, looking darkly down at the folded up vest in his own arms. "I'm a _chuunin_."

He said this word with subtle distaste, slouching a little bit more than usual as he trudged up the stairs behind Naruto.

Shikaku chortled, clapping his son on the shoulder.

"Show a little more enthusiasm, Shikamaru!" he exhorted, a wry grin wrinkling some of the scars which lined his jaw. "Less than half of the Konoha genin who competed in the final phase were promoted."

"Whee," Shikamaru deadpanned. "_Lucky me._"

He gave his dad the evil eye as he spoke, wrinkling his nose as if he smelled something decidedly unpleasant.

"Seriously, why was _I_ promoted?" he muttered, sounding quite unhappy with the news of his advancement in rank. "I forfeited in the first round!"

"Very shrewdly, might I add," Shikaku said, grinning indulgently at his son. "Just like a true chuunin!"

Shikamaru swore.

"Ah, ah! Now where did you learn _that_ kind of language?" Shikaku jokingly inquired, knowing full well that Shikamaru had probably learned it from him. "It wouldn't do to let your mother hear you talking like that!"

This last bit Shikaku said more seriously, a veiled entreaty toward his son to not get him in trouble with the missus.

Shikamaru gave his father a look somewhere between pity and disgruntlement.

"Whatever," he muttered. He looked up the stairs, and saw Naruto waiting for them at the top.

"You guys coming, or what?" Naruto said, eagerly bouncing on his feet. "Hehehe! _I'm a chuunin, I'm a chuunin~!_" he singsonged under his breath.

Shikamaru grumbled irritably.

"Are you just like this _all_ the time?" he muttered. "'Cause I think I might actually be starting to feel _sorry_ for Sasuke..."

If Naruto heard this, he certainly didn't show it. He hopped from one foot to the other, looking eager as a beaver in a flowering grove.

"_I'm a chuunin~! I'm a chuunin~!_" the blond continued to sing. "Oh, man! I have GOT to tell Iruka-sensei! He's gonna _flip!_"

Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm sure he will," he mumbled.

Unable to contain his excitement any longer, the boy darted off.

Shikamaru stared at the cloud of dust left in Naruto's wake.

"How are me and Naruto the only ones to get promoted to chuunin...?" the Nara bitterly wondered.

"You were the only ones to show any kind of tactics or strategy in your matches," Shikaku said simply, smirking down at his son.

"The two lowest-scoring genin from our class," Shikamaru groaned. "The only ones to show any strategy? Man, that really says something messed up about the system, if guys like me and him are getting promoted before people like Sasuke or Neji. Even Shino would've made a better choice for chuunin."

Shikaku chuckled.

"Oh, you'd be surprised..." he said, smiling and shaking his head.

Shikamaru scowled, letting out an irritated huff.

"Ugh. I'm too damn tired for this crap."

Shikaku laughed.

* * *

Sasuke brooded in his hospital room. It was quiet, the atmosphere tense. Outside his door one could hear doctors and nurses going between rooms, checking up on patients.

Sakura sat beside his bed, still, quietly staring down into her lap. She looked chastised, chewing on her lower lip, like a dog that had been suddenly kicked by its dear, beloved human.

There was something miserable about the way she sat there, too worried to leave his side, but too afraid to speak up or try to comfort him. She was anxious, the slightest glint of dismay – _betrayal _– in her eyes.

Sasuke could not bring himself to meet those eyes. He knew that if he did, he would feel regret, feel sorry for lashing out at her like that. A part of himself already felt that way, a gnawing sense of self-loathing growing in the pit of his stomach.

He had struck her. Not just the plate, no. Lost in dark, hateful, bitter thoughts as he had been, Sasuke had been unable to control himself. He had lashed out, striking Sakura's arm.

She hid it well. No doubt Sakura felt the sting from that blow, but she showed no signs of physical pain. The fear in her eyes was not for her own well being.

She was afraid for his sake. Hurt to see him so lost to his own demons. She quailed not because he had struck her, but because he had, for a moment, ceased to be himself.

Sasuke clenched his fists. He unclenched them, and grit his teeth.

Guilt had such a bitter taste.

The long silence stretched out between them, a clock on the wall mournfully counting every second with a slow and steady _tick_ and _tock_. Sasuke stared out the window, stared at the sky and tried to think of anything but his own actions.

He forced himself to recall his brother's words, clinging to them like a lifeline, trying to feel the cold hatred in his heart.

But Sakura's presence drove those thoughts just beyond his reach. Something about her worried expression, her concern for him, numbed the pain of his loss.

Her presence, quietly supporting him, was like a balm to his heart.

Sasuke balked at this realization, feeling ashamed.

When had these people come to fill it up...? When had his team begun to replace his family in his heart?

The hole was plugged. Not completely, perhaps, but enough to stifle the flow of hate. The pain of that loss should have fueled him, given him purpose and resolve. Yet that very pain was now numbed, distant and half-forgotten. Even the dark dreams of Tsukuyomi were beginning to fade in the light of this waking world.

He felt sick to his stomach. Confused. Angry.

Sasuke's felt his gut churn. His blood boiled. He needed to fight. Had to prove his strength. He had fallen too far behind. At the rate he was going, that gap would never close...

Again, his thoughts turned to Naruto. The loser who had somehow passed him up, become _stronger_ than him.

It felt like all he could see was Naruto's back. The boy was growing at a rate Sasuke could only dream of, and if he kept this up... Naruto really would completely surpass him.

Naruto the dead last. Naruto the class clown. Naruto the hopelessly untalented joke of a ninja.

Naruto, who had somehow merited _his_ brother's attention, even when he himself had been standing right there. Naruto, who had defeated a foe a league above one who had utterly crushed him.

Naruto, whose boasts of becoming hokage no longer seemed so fanciful or baseless.

Sasuke felt helpless, like he was at the brink of being swept away in a running current. Despite all these years of training, he still didn't have the strength to change anything. He still didn't have to power to avenge his family.

There came a knock at his door. Sasuke scarcely heard it, so lost in thought.

For a moment, no one answered. But the knock came again, and Sakura mustered up the courage to stammer out a weak:

"C-Come in..."

The door opened. For a split second, Sasuke expected Naruto to appear. But a moment later, a tuft of messy silver hair became visible.

"Yo," came the lazy, half-assed greeting of their jounin instructor, Kakashi Hatake. "Miss me?"

Sasuke felt ashamed to realize that he _had_. When had he formed all of these bonds...?

He clenched his fists weakly.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei..." he mumbled.

"Hi," Sakura said, glancing nervously at Sasuke.

Kakashi's one visible eye crinkled in a smile.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" he said cheerfully, despite still looking rather tired. "Come on, Naruto. We don't have to worry about you waking him up..."

Sasuke heard the eager laugh, and saw his teammate bounce through the door.

He wore a flak vest. _Armor_, however modern.

Something no genin was afforded.

Deep inside Sasuke's chest, something tightened up at the sight, and the subsequent realization.

_Naruto was a chuunin._

He felt himself falling even further behind, and a touch despair swelled up in his heart. Bitterly, he smiled.

It came out half like a grimace. After a moment, long and awkward, he spoke.

"Good for you..." he said quietly. Swallowing the envy, he choked out a strangled: "Congratulations."

Sakura was silent, hesitantly glancing back at Sasuke, until he said that. Then she turned to Naruto with a soft smile.

"Yeah, what Sasuke said..." she mumbled. "Congratulations."

Naruto beamed, oblivious to the heavy atmosphere.

Kakashi, however, seemed much more perceptive.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter will probably be much more in depth about Team 7's reactions, but for this the challenge was just figuring out the timing of certain key events...

**Updated:** 10-19-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


	4. Underneath the Underneath

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Adventure (_maybe?_)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

"So... Naruto is a chuunin, now?"

Sasuke's words were low and laden with meaning. Dark eyes glanced between his sensei and his teammate.

"So he is," Kakashi said with a nod of his head.

Sakura's smile turned briefly to a thoughtful, hesitant frown. She saw how Naruto was beaming at her and Sasuke, and could not help but wonder about her Uchiha teammate.

"What... what about Sasuke?" Sakura inquired, choosing her words carefully.

Naruto cocked his head at this, and he frowned thoughtfully too.

"Huh. Granny didn't _say_ anything about him, but maybe that's just because he's still in the hospital," said the blond, grinning toothily once more.

Honestly, in some distant recess of his mind, a part of Naruto had been convinced his rival would pass, even if he himself did not. This belief was, of course, what had spurred him to work so hard in his month of training. He absolutely _refused_ to be left in the dust.

It had not yet occurred to Naruto that he might have been promoted while Sasuke was not. Whatever else he might say in his boasting, the boy did respect his rival's technically superior ability.

Kakashi took note of this, glancing sidelong at Naruto. Coolly, he assessed the boy's statement for any hidden meaning.

There was nothing he could find.

Then he looked over at Sasuke, who looked like he had just bitten into something sour. He winced at the indirect, unintentional reminder of the incident with his brother.

Kakashi's eye caught the twitching of Sasuke's fingers, almost as if they had come this close to curling up in fists. He hummed inwardly, noting the ghost of a scowl that flickered across his student's face.

Compared to his brother, Sasuke was like an open book.

"...I doubt Sasuke will be promoted this time," Kakashi said after a moment of silence. As tactfully as he could, the man elaborated. "Honestly, his match with Gaara did not showcase many of his abilities."

Kakashi wisely refrained from commenting on what he himself thought about the boy's fitness for promotion. In the first place, he had nominated his team to participate in the exams solely because he'd believed they had needed a cold, hard dose of reality.

He'd trusted in their ability to survive, or else he wouldn't have nominated them, but never had he expected that two of his students would make it all the way to the finals. He'd figured they might make it as far as the survival portion before flunking out.

Considering that he had entered Team Seven into the Chuunin Exams to knock them down a couple of pegs and get them to take their training more seriously, it was incredibly surprising to think that _any_ of them had actually been promoted. Though in fairness all three of them had matured considerably, if it had been Kakashi's decision, he personally would not have promoted a single of them.

Naruto was, in his opinion, no more fit to be a chuunin than Sasuke or Sakura. He had grown very much, but he was still a touch too immature and brash. Sasuke had too much unresolved emotional baggage to be trusted with a leadership position, and Sakura was still a bit too passive and reliant on her teammates.

Better than many people, Kakashi understood the risks of promoting someone before they were ready. The pressures that came with advancement could do a serious number on an immature shinobi. He probably could have come to terms with his father's suicide much earlier if he hadn't been shooting up through the ranks so quickly.

Another year as genin could do wonders for his team. They were young, still able to grow and adapt at a remarkable pace. None of them were, in his opinion, ready for promotion _yet_, but given more time he could mold them into excellent shinobi.

Except Naruto had already been promoted to chuunin. And while Kakashi would never openly question the hokage's decisions, he felt exhausted just thinking about what it would take to get the boy up to speed.

Naruto Uzumaki had many surprising talents, yes, but leadership qualities were one thing that were not terribly abundant in him. He had a lot of _potential_, but that was hardly the same thing as _ability_.

The only saving grace in all this was probably that Sasuke hadn't also been promoted. It would be hard enough drilling the necessary principles and discipline for chuunin through Naruto's thick skull even _without_ having to worry about Sasuke.

But Kakashi, again, tactfully refrained from betraying any of these thoughts to his students. Some might have called him too indulgent, but the Copy Ninja preferred to think of it as prudence.

Sasuke frowned a little more evidently, his brow furrowing as he processed Kakashi's statement.

_"I doubt Sasuke will be promoted this time. Honestly, his match with Gaara did not showcase many of his abilities."_

A part of the boy felt irrationally slighted by this comment, and burned to snap at Kakashi for saying as much. But cooler parts of his brain reined in this impulse, seeing no real insult in the statement.

It was a fair and rational remark. His fight with Gaara _had_ been cut short, and Sasuke _hadn't_ really gotten a chance to show off much more than his taijutsu and the chidori. He didn't know exactly how Naruto's match against Neji had gone, but the boy had clearly shown _some_ manner of quality in that fight to justifiy his promotion.

Taking a deep breath and looking at it rationally, Sasuke understood that between himself and Naruto, only one of them had really _wanted_ the promotion. Naruto's dream of becoming hokage would naturally require him to climb up the village ranks, while Sasuke's own goal required nothing more than skill and power.

Certainly, chuunin had access to certain resources that genin did not, and as team leaders entrusted with handling C- and B-rank missions had a greater freedom of movement. Genin like himself were usually restricted to operating within a relatively short distance of Konoha, while chuunin regularly took jobs that would have them moving all throughout the Land of Fire, and even into neighboring territories.

But Sasuke did not care about a promotion for the sake of advancing his career. Failing the exams after coming so far did sting a little, but he still had plenty of time to train. He had his own resources to draw on if it came to that, and really all he'd cared about was testing himself against strong opponents.

Of course, he realized now that the gap between himself and Itachi was still unfathomably wide. He had been batted aside as effortlessly as a fresh academy recruit. He would need to train much harder to get anywhere near Itachi's level.

If he had to spend another year or two as a genin, so be it. In a way, that would be better for him in the long-term. Trivial D- and C-rank missions would pose almost no risk to his wellbeing, and furthermore leave him with much more time to train and hone his skills.

Harder missions might push him to develop faster, but if fights in the Chuunin Exams had given him this much trouble, he clearly wasn't ready for them.

He had the sharingan. Thinking about it logically, Sasuke understood that this alone would greatly speed up his development. The ability to penetrate and copy ninjutsu, genjutsu, and even taijutsu would prove invaluable to broadening his skill set. Unlike Naruto or Sakura, he would not need to spend days, weeks, or months just practicing to get new techniques down.

All he would really need to focus on, for now, would be physical and mental conditioning. Increasing his strength and speed. Deepening his grasp of strategy and tactics. Building up his chakra reserves.

His growth before attaining the sharingan had been painstakingly slow, but now that he had it, he could finally begin to realize his full potential. Aside from raw battle experience, practically everything Sasuke needed to grow stronger was already at his disposal.

He didn't _need_ to be promoted. Not yet, at least. A higher rank within the village's military hierarchy would certainly afford him certain advantages in the pursuit of his goal, but these would also come with the drawback of increased responsibilities, less time to train on his own terms.

At the moment, the cons of being promoted outweighed the pros. Looking at it logically, Sasuke perceived that he really didn't have any reason to envy Naruto's promotion.

Slowly, taking a deep breath, Sasuke met his teacher's eyes.

"Fair enough," he said, his tone coming out bland and disinterested. "I guess Naruto just got the luck of the draw this time."

The blond scowled at Sasuke, looking a bit irked by the Uchiha's apparent dismissal of his promotion. He glared, and seemed ready to go off on a tirade, but a _look_ from Sakura stilled his tongue.

Naruto gulped, remembering himself. Sasuke was still recovering from that genjutsu or whatever, right? Yeah, he was probably just too tired to properly acknowledge his achievement.

Heck, maybe Sasuke was even _jealous _of him!

Naruto grinned.

_Yeah! That must be it!_

"Don't worry, Sasuke!" Naruto said in what he considered to be a very mature and gracious tone. "I'm sure you'll make the cut _next time_."

He intended this half as a little jibe, but it came out sounding honestly more sincere than he meant it to. Not that Sasuke reacted to it either way.

No, the Uchiha seemed more interested in squinting his eyes at Kakashi.

"Itachi was strong enough to beat you," he murmured, looking curiously at his sensei.

Neither Naruto or Sakura picked up on the subtext of this statement.

_Why should I bother studying under someone weaker than the man I've sworn to kill?_

Kakashi picked it up, though. And apparently so did someone else.

"He was strong enough to beat Orochimaru, too," came a voice from outside Sasuke's window – which was a little surprising, since it had been closed not a minute ago. "If my sources are accurate, at least."

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi looked out the window. The first impression was the colors. A red vest, long white hair, and a dull green men's kimono underneath.

Their second impression was _size_. The speaker was a man even taller than Kakashi-sensei, and a good deal burlier too from the looks of it. His choice of clothing in particular gave off a certain impression of stoutness.

The third impression was how relaxed the man looked, standing fearlessly on the precarious ledge outside the window, leaning against the wall with his back turned to them. Only the slight tilt of his head, and the context of his statement, betrayed that the man spoke to them.

Naruto did a double take at the sight of the man.

"Eh? Pervy Sage?" he said, sounding perplexed. "What are you doing here?"

"A favor for Tsunade," the man said simply, before sidling in through the window.

Sasuke stared at him, immediately recognizing that distinctive appearance. His eyes went a little wide, and his face was reddening.

Sakura stared at the man also, quite startled by his outlandish visage. She noted that his forehead protector bore the kanji for _oil_, which was not an identifier she recognized. Shooting up from her seat, she positioned herself protectively between Sasuke and this stranger.

"What kind of favor would a foreign shinobi be doing for the Fifth Hokage?" she asked in her best attempt at an intimidating voice. "And in the _hospital_ of all places?"

The man looked at Sakura. He chuckled heartily.

"What?" he said. "Another brat who doesn't even recognize me... what are they teaching you kids at the academy?"

He struck a pose straight out of a kabuki performance, grinning toothily.

"Behold, little lady!"

Sakura could have sworn she heard a block of wood being struck rhythmically.

"I have traveled these wide lands a hundred times over, ranging east and west, north and south! I have gone over hill and under hill, across the water and through the forest! I have faced darkness and fire, steel and ice!"

For a moment, it almost sounded like someone was going "YOOOOO!" in the distance.

"I am seal-master, and oil-lighter, and he-of-the-lion's-mane! I have climbed to the peak of Mount Myoboku, and studied under ancient sages! I have won a thousand battles, and broken ten thousand hearts!"

The wood was being struck faster now, and Sakura could have sworn she head someone plucking a shamisen.

"I am snake-foe, and fire-bringer, and black mire's herald! I am toad-sage and one-of-three, ape king's pupil in myth shrouded! Behold, little child, and be amazed!"

The man swung his head, flinging his long and wild mane about. He hopped on one foot, and stomped the floor, holding both arms up with his palms facing outward.

"For I am the one! The ONLY! The **A****B-SO-LUTE-LY INCOMPARABLE!** LOORRRD JIIIRAAIYAAAAA!"

Sakura blinked. Sasuke's jaw went slack. Kakashi even sweatdropped.

Naruto scoffed, the only one to be completely unfazed by Jiraiya's excessively theatrical self-introduction.

"Whatever, Pervy Sage," he muttered. "But what kind of favor would Granny ask _you_ to do?"

Jiraiya glowered at Naruto, dropping his pose. He dropped a hand rather brusquely on top of Naruto's head, causing the blond to yelp and curse.

"Show a little more respect, brat. Most people would give an arm and a leg for the chance to study under me!"

Sakura blinked a second time. Sasuke paled significantly. Kakashi was relatively unfazed.

"W-Wait..." mumbled the female member of Team Seven, "Did he say... _Lord Jiraiya?_"

Kakashi nodded for his student's benefit, one of his hands absentmindedly wandering to a pouch where he had a signed copy of _Icha Icha Paradise_ stowed away in a waterproof scroll.

Sakura gaped, her brain struggling to process this. After a moment of belayed ratiocination, a look of mortification crossed her face, and she immediately bowed as low as she could go.

"Oh, gosh! I am so sorry, Lord Jiraiya! I didn't mean any insult!" she yelped.

The seal master chortled goodnaturedly, and shook his head.

"None taken," he said, grinning at Sakura. "You're cautious of strangers. That's good!"

He then gave Naruto a pointed look.

"_You could stand to learn an awful lot from your teammate, here,_" he muttered lowly.

Naruto glowered at him.

Sasuke was stock still, and completely silent. He stared blankly at this man – _Lord Jiraiya_, he called himself – trying to recall why that name sounded familiar.

It took him a moment to connect the dots.

_The Legendary Sannin. _

This man was a former teammate – and _equal_ – of Orochimaru. A famed toad summoner and seal master: he was a student of the Third Hokage, and the teacher of the Fourth.

The only man alive to hold a summoning contract with the toad clan of Mount Myoboku. The only person who could have taught _Naruto_ how to summon toads. And apparently a man strong enough to survive an encounter with his brother.

Sasuke then processed what the man had said about Orochimaru being weaker than...

He frowned. A sharingan flashed in his eyes.

"_What do you know about my brother?_" he demanded.

Somewhat logically, considering that this was a shinobi who had been ready and willing to face down Itachi Uchiha, Jiraiya didn't even blink at the temperamental flare up of Sasuke's doujutsu.

"A lot of things," the man said blandly, looking at Sasuke like one might look at a very small child who had just asked a very stupid question. "But I'm sure it's all either stuff you already know, or top-secret classified ANBU stuff that even _I_ shouldn't technically be privy to."

Sasuke frowned, biting his lip. Sakura looked at him concernedly. Even Naruto seemed a bit worried about the look in his teammate's eyes.

"How... did you beat him...?" he wondered quietly. "My brother... if you say even your former comrade, Orochimaru, could not match Itachi's abilities..."

Jiraiya shook his head.

"I wouldn't say I _beat_ him, even if he did fall into my trap... considering the weasel was still able to chew its way out of the snare," the man muttered. "And to be frank, all I know is that Itachi drove Orochimaru out of their little organization."

"Akatsuki...?" Sasuke whispered, remembering more clearly what his brother had said. "_Daybreak_... what is that? Why are they after Naruto? Why wouldn't he—?"

Sasuke cut himself off with a grimace, looking away.

_Why wouldn't he have anything to do with me?_

Kakashi sighed, looking between his students. His gaze lingered particularly long on Naruto.

Then he glanced at Jiraiya. The man shrugged.

"It's not my place to say," the toad sage muttered dismissively. "And even if it was, I don't think these kids are ready to hear it."

Naruto frowned, though, looking sidelong at Sasuke and Sakura. He fingered one of his flak vest's scroll pouches, anxiously fiddling it open and closed.

"I'm a chuunin..." he mumbled, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I'll... have to lead them on missions, won't I?"

"I'd imagine so, sooner or later," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto a touch curiously.

The boy sighed.

"We've been through a lot together," Naruto said. He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning contemplatively. "And... you've already seen a bit of it in the past."

Sakura looked at Naruto, furrowing her brow.

"Seen bits of... _what?_" she asked him.

"What those guys probably want with me," Naruto sighed. "My... well, other chakra," he said lamely.

Sasuke straightened up, hearing this.

"That strange power..." he muttered, glancing at Naruto. His eyes were narrowed, shrewdly assessing his teammate. "Yes, I've noticed. During the fight with Orochimaru... and when you fought Gaara..."

"My fight with Neji, too," Naruto added. "And... I think I might have... used it against Haku, too."

"Haku...?" Sakura said, frowning for a moment. "Oh! _Haku_..."

Her eyes widened then.

"Wait... another chakra...? Of course!" she exclaimed, realization striking. "That's how you were able to get back up after Neji closed your tenketsu!"

Then she frowned again, and looked worriedly at Sasuke.

"But, wait..." she whispered. "Then... where does that chakra come from...?"

Sasuke grimaced at the reminder of his curse seal. Naruto was oblivious to this, but he had his own reasons to grimace.

"Do either of you guys know what day my birthday is?" he asked them.

Sakura blushed, abashed to realize that she did not. Sasuke, not particularly caring about the faux pas, simply shook his head.

"No," he said. "But I don't know Sakura's or Kakashi's either."

Sakura appeared a touch crestfallen at this. Naruto let out a sigh.

"Yeah..." he mumbled. "It's October tenth."

Sasuke's eyes widened with a stunned realization.

"The day of the kyuubi attack..." he whispered, staring at Naruto.

The blond smiled weakly.

"You look like you've already figured it out," he remarked, looking at Sasuke.

"You're the same as Gaara..." the Uchiha whispered, his face as white as a sheet. "...Itachi... is he trying to become the next Madara...?"

Sakura frowned in confusion, staring between Naruto and Sasuke.

"I don't get it," she said, "What would the kyuubi attack have to do with Naruto's chakra...?"

"_Everything_," Sasuke whispered, trembling. "Sakura... he's a _jinchuuriki_."

* * *

A/N: Welp. Looks like THAT cat's out of the bag.

**Updated:** 10-22-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


	5. Jinchuuriki Defined

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Adventure (_maybe?_)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

For one long and tense moment following Sasuke's grim pronouncement, everything was perfectly silent.

Jiraiya's face looked like it could have been chiseled from stone, calculatedly unexpressive. Kakashi's visible eye flicked between his students.

Sakura stared at Sasuke, her expression blank. She frowned softly, glancing sidelong at Naruto and biting her lip.

Her brow furrowed minutely.

"I see..." she said quietly, her voice low. "That... um," she paused, cheeks reddening subtly. "Well, er, sounds very..."

Sasuke stared at Sakura as the girl hesitantly meandered over her words. The tiniest bead of sweat traced its way down his brow.

Naruto raised a hand.

"Um, question!" he said unashamedly. "What's a _jim-jury-key?_"

Sakura's face reddened immensely. She let out a sound somewhere between a squeak and a cough. She pointedly avoided meeting the eyes of either of her teammates, appearing rather obviously sheepish.

Sasuke's palm became intimately acquainted with his face.

"You... don't _either_ of you know what that is...?" he muttered. "I mean, okay, I can sort of understand with _Naruto_, because he's just an idiot like that,"

"—Hey!" The blond fumed at Sasuke's remark.

"—but, _Sakura?_" Sasuke said, looking at the pinkette. "I'm honestly surprised you don't know..."

The Uchiha shook his head, looking to the adults briefly for help in explaining. Seeing none forthcoming, he sighed.

"Naruto, a_ jinchuuriki_ is what you are," Sasuke said slowly. "At least, if what you've suggested is the same as what I've concluded."

Naruto cocked his head like a beagle, a thoughtful frown creasing his whisker marks. He saw the glint of comprehension in Sasuke's eyes, and got a feeling in his gut that his rival did indeed know what he was talking about.

But, still... that word was definitely a mouthful. Jeen-choo-ree-kee...

Naruto was not the most literate kid there was. He didn't know nearly as many kanji as a boy his age should have, and he still had occasional difficulty with kana.

But, _jin_... that reminded him of what Iruka had told them a while ago, back after they had finished the second phase of the chuunin exams.

Person. Humanity. _Jin_.

人

(He doubted that it was meant in the sense of, say, "blade" or "god", or anything like that)

And continuing on, trying to puzzle through the rest of the word's meaning, he came to _chuu_. Naruto couldn't recall all of the possible meanings that could have, but the one that came most immediately to mind was "middle, center": 中.

Half because it was in the middle of the word, and half because thinking of _jin_ made him think of the chuunin (中忍, "middle ninja") exams.

And that left the last part of the word, _riki_. There was only one character Naruto could think of that would fit that.

力

_Chikara_. Power, or strength.

Sasuke's favorite word, ahead of even "vengeance" or "hn".

Putting it all together on the chalkboard in his head, Naruto came up with 人中力. Person-middle-power.

_Jinchuuriki_.

Thinking about it, Naruto could see why this made sense. The few times he had tapped into his other chakra thus far, the power had always seemed to well up from somewhere in his gut – the center of the body.

Maybe that was what Pervy Sage had been doing with that sucker punch? At the time the old man had said he'd hit pressure points to relax Naruto, but maybe he had actually been doing something to let him access that other chakra... the _kyuubi's_ chakra.

Naruto hummed thoughtfully, scratching his chin.

A person who draws power from their center... that WAS sorta like what he was. And kinda like what Gaara was, too, with that whole demon inside of him.

"Hrm, well I've never heard that _jinchuuriki_ word before, but I guess it does kinda make sense..." Naruto mused, nodding at Sasuke. "If it's what me and Gaara are, then... yeah, I think I get what you're saying. Though I think something like _mafuunin_ would sound cooler."

Sasuke sighed at Naruto's immaturity.

"It's..." the Uchiha muttered, "...it's not SUPPOSED to sound cool. It's a horrible, barbaric practice that rips away one person's humanity to provide their masters with a terrible, fearsome weapon. Jinchuuriki is the power of human sacrifice."

He shot a dark, suspicious look at Kakashi and Jiraiya, then.

"You two... _knew_ about this," Sasuke whispered, his face a shade paler than normal. "How long?" He glanced sidelong at Naruto. There was something a little like fear in his eyes. "How long have you known he was...?"

Sakura frowned, still lost, and futilely trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Was _what?_" she blurted out, looking abashed to explicitly concede her confusion. "I... I'm still not sure I understand what you're talking about. Human sacrifice... the kyuubi attack... Naruto's other chakra..."

Sakura shook her head slowly, flabbergasted. Sasuke and Naruto weren't making any sense to her. It was like they might as well have been speaking a completely different language, for all the allusions and skirting around the issue.

She just couldn't suss out the correlation between those three points. The kyuubi attack, Naruto's chakra, and the power of human sacrifice. It didn't make sense in any way that she was willing to accept.

From those three elements, there was only only one conclusion she could come to that was even remotely close to logical. But it couldn't be, could it?

"...you can't possibly be saying what I think you're saying," she murmured. "I... no, Lord Fourth Hokage would never have done something like that."

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke asked her. There was a hint of ice in his tone, a bitterly cynical edge to his words. "In this world... all that matters is power. The strength to make things happen. A kage would know that better than anyone."

Jiraiya snorted.

"That so?" he drawled. "But I'd say the Fourth knew better than to think like that."

"Whatever Minato-sensei's reasoning might have been," Kakashi added, nodding, "I'm sure that he never would have done what he did... with _that_ intent."

Naruto flinched, looking put off by the others talking about him like he wasn't even there. Sakura noticed the hint of something quiet and glum in his eyes, and frowned.

"N-Naruto...?" she whispered hesitantly, reaching a hand out nervously. "Um... does what they're saying really mean...?"

The blond turned his head to face Sakura, and he smiled his usual feckless grin. He laughed, sounding vaguely awkward.

"Umm... well, if what you're thinking is that the Fourth Hokage used some kind of sealing jutsu to beat the kyuubi..." Naruto mumbled, "...and that sealing jutsu happened to need a newborn human baby... and most of the kyuubi wound up getting sealed _inside_ that newborn baby..."

Sakura's eyes went wide. Naruto was not usually one to be indirect, but this wasn't exactly coming right out and saying it, however clear his statement may have made her reluctant conclusions.

For a moment, the girl stared at Naruto. As the realization finally sank in, she found herself at a loss for words.

She trembled, unable to meet Naruto's eyes.

Her thoughts were racing as she processed everything she had just learned. _Jinchuuriki_ was a foreign term to Sakura, but she remembered certain passages in their academy textbooks which referred in passing to certain unethical practices performed in other villages. One of the words had been difficult for her to read, and she vaguely remembered asking one of the academy teachers what it had meant.

Mizuki-sensei hadn't been able to give her a satisfactory answer aside from a vague mention of sealing arts. She hadn't been able to find the word in any of the dictionaries available to academy students, and eventually gave up on it.

She had almost forgotten... but now that it came back to her mind, she remembered at once how it had been written.

Three kanji. _Human_ had been first, then a character for _pillar_, and finally _power_.

人  
柱  
力

It hadn't made sense to her at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight and Sasuke's given definition of _"power of human sacrifice__"_, it finally made a bit of sense to her. While 柱 used as a noun would mean _pillar_, it could also be used as a counter.

Usually, this denoted the numbering of deities, spirit tablets, or...

Sakura shivered.

_Cremated human remains_.

Sakura looked into Naruto's eyes, and felt a pang of something she had never really felt for the boy before now. Not to this extent, at least.

Her lower lip trembled.

She recalled what Sasuke had told her the day of their graduation, how she could never understand the pain of loneliness. She thought of all the times Naruto had acted so loud and obnoxious, and all the times she would never have noticed him if not for his constant misbehavior.

Academically, Sakura had known that Naruto was a touchy subject around the village. Her parents had hesitated to talk about him, back when she first told them about this annoying whisker-marked blond in her class. They had hurriedly and anxiously changed the subject, and no more had been said of Naruto Uzumaki that day.

From this, and Naruto's behavior, Sakura had come to the conclusion that the boy was just an infamous troublemaker, and paid him no more heed save to rebuff his obnoxious antics. But now she wondered if maybe her conclusion hadn't been flawed...

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.

Pieces fell into place. She realized how often Naruto must have been ignored, how many people who must have been troubled by the thought of their beloved Yondaime sealing a demon inside a newborn child. Perhaps they tried their best to pretend Naruto didn't exist because they could not fathom how the Lord Hokage could do something like that, how he could have possibly justified such a cruel sacrifice. Easier to ignore the matter entirely than to try and justify it.

If they started thinking of Naruto as another boy, another misfortunate orphan, then they would to be forced to accept the fact that Yondaime-sama had done something truly reprehensible.

And as far as Sakura was concerned, in that moment, it _was_ reprehensible. She felt no sympathy for the Fourth Hokage's plight. He was just a figure in the history books, to her, another face on the mountain.

But Naruto? He was her _comrade_. They had gone into life-threatening situations side-by-side, fought tooth and nail to protect one another against overwhelming odds.

She thought of the boy who had frozen up at the sight of the demon brothers, yet managed to rally their spirits against the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. She thought of the boy who had come to her and Sasuke's rescue in the Forest of Death, who had indirectly saved both of them from Orochimaru then, and directly from that possessed Sand ninja during the invasion.

Naruto Uzumaki. Her comrade, her teammate: the boy who had convinced Tsunade-sama to come back to the Leaf Village, to take on the mantle of Hokage, and heal Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei.

Maybe if Sakura had learned the truth about Naruto half a year earlier, she would have feared him, and become wary of him. Maybe if she had learned about the kyuubi inside of Naruto back when she knew him as just _"that annoying brat who keeps pestering me and getting between my and Sasuke-kun's love! Shannaro!"_, she would have become blinded by the thought of the demon in his belly, and become unable to see past the fear and prejudice.

But she _knew_ Naruto, now. Maybe not as well as she should, but she had seen him at his best and worst. She had fought side by side with the blond, done missions with him and seen him mature from a boastful, talentless twerp into a genuinely strong ninja, a person she and Sasuke could rely on to have their backs, no matter how stupid he might have acted most of the time.

She knew that Naruto was, at heart, a good and earnest person. He was hardheaded and stubborn, brash and loudmouthed, but he was also steadfastly loyal, determined to never let anyone hurt the people he cared about.

Despite being ignored by everyone for so long, Naruto had already garnered the hokage's acknowledgement, demonstrated the worth to be promoted to chuunin. He was moving up in the world even in spite of all the difficulties he had faced along the way.

Put into this perspective, and struck with the sudden revelation of Naruto's deepest hardship, Sakura felt a stirring of her maternal instincts.

Throwing her arms around the blonde, she pulled him into a smothering hug.

"Oh, you _poor thing!_" she cooed, despite Naruto confused and frightened yelp at this sudden embrace.

Sasuke watched this, dumbstruck. Idly, shaking like a leaf, he wondered if Sakura had snapped from the realization of Naruto's true nature.

Surely, no sane person would EVER want to hug a _jinchuuriki!_

* * *

A/N: Naruto's spelling of jinchuuriki is intentionally wrong on my part. He mentally wrote the kanji as 人中力, where jinchuuriki is _actually_ written as 人柱力.

柱, looking at the definition on wiktionary, means (as a noun) "pillar". When used as a counter, it can be referring to spirits/gods/worshipped deities, "spirit tablets", or...

..._cremated remains._

As if "the power of human sacrifice" wasn't already morbid enough to begin with.

(_mafuunin_; 魔封忍: "evil containment shinobi" – because Naruto is thirteen, and Minato's son)

Also, this chapter's shorter than the others, but this honestly felt like a very good spot to end it. I wanted to establish that Sakura is actually a reasonably, empathetic person by this point in the series and not just some shrilly squealing Sasuke fangirl.

(If you can't tell, I _immensely_ dislike the kind of shallowly self-justifying un-logic that pervades so much Naruto-centric fanfiction and turns most or all of the people around him into lobotomized assholes)

**Updated:** 11-1-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


	6. Return to Normalcy

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Adventure (maybe?)

Characters/Pairings: Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

In the days following Sasuke's release from the hospital, Team Seven took on and completed several different missions. The village was at its bare minimum in terms of manpower, and every hand was needed.

Kakashi had been in and out of the village five times already, going from one mission to the next with very little rest in between. As one of the best surviving Konoha jounin still in active service, the Copy Ninja was forced to bear a significant share of the burden. He had a nearly flawless success rate, even with missions of the highest rank.

Oftentimes he was having to tackle B- or A-rank missions by himself, or with just one or two other jounin. He was one of the best there was, and now more than ever Konoha needed his abilities.

One of the most widely accepted measures of a ninja village's military strength was its mission records. The more missions a village accepted, the more money went into its coffers, and the more the prestige of its shinobi rose. A village which accepted and completed many high rank missions would invariably be viewed as strong.

Missions required manpower and ability. One or the other could suffice in a pinch, but the more missions a village could complete, the more skilled, active shinobi it could be assumed to have. And while Konoha was not taking on more missions than usual, its forces were still stretched thin.

Even a light load could become heavy when shared between too few, and the casualties from the Sand-Sound invasion – while less severe than feared – had put a right sore dent in the Leaf's military power. But until such a time as these losses could be recouped, and the gaps in their ranks filled in with fresh young blood, the shinobi of Konoha were expected to do their part to maintain the village's standing.

And Team Seven was no exception.

Their first few missions following Sasuke's discharge from the hospital had been rather simple affairs, just D-rank public works within the village itself. They hadn't been very challenging, particularly since the abysmal teamwork which had plagued their squad after the mission to the Land of Waves was nowhere to be seen.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had seemingly come to grips with their roles in Team Seven. No longer did they bicker and fight over every little thing. They worked together like a well-oiled machine, and this had as much to do with Sakura and Sasuke as it did with Naruto.

As the highest ranking member of Team Seven, Naruto was acting captain while Kakashi was away on his own missions. And while the blond was not the shrewdest or most tactful of people, he had a certain _spark_ which helped motivate his teammates.

Sakura was remarkably supportive, giving Naruto advice when he needed it, and encouraging him to do his best. She had acquired a certain kind of respect for the lad, and gladly followed his lead – when he wasn't being an idiot, at least.

Even Sasuke seemed to have lightened up a little after his little chat with Jiraiya, and he had been doing well enough to adjust to certain revelations and changes in his daily routine. He accepted Naruto's lead well enough, though he did not hesitate to tell the blond when it looked like he was about to screw something up.

With Kakashi off on missions, it was up to Naruto's teammates to help the blond get a grasp of his new responsibilities. And Team Seven did their best with what they had.

* * *

_"Target sighted at nine o' clock. Permission to engage?"_

Sakura's voice buzzed in her teammate's ears. Naruto and Sasuke darted stealthily through the treetops, disturbing nary a leaf or a twig as they made their way through the foliage.

_"Negative, Sakura. Don't make a move until we give the signal."_

A second passed before the reply came.

_"Copy that, captain. I'll keep the target in sight."_ Sakura's voice paused for another second, before adding. _"What's your ETA? It looks like he's getting antsy."_

Sasuke furrowed his brow, a two-comma sharingan scanning the underbrush below.

_"I've got you in sight,"_ the Uchiha said. _"Three seconds and we'll have him surrounded."_

A curse came over the radio, then. They heard a twig snap below, and the bushes suddenly rustled.

_"Damn. Must've heard you coming. He's darted off."_

Sasuke smirked.

"You have the net cast, captain?"

A sharp yowl echoed through the forest, followed by a victorious shout.

Naruto grinned, and dropped down from the branches.

"What do you think?" he replied. "I'm not about to spend all day chasing that darn cat."

He and Sasuke landed in a clearing. They could see bushes rustling off to their left, accompanied by a hellish caterwauling.

Sakura poked her head out of the underbrush, emerging to the right of them.

"Ah," she said, recognition in her eyes. "You had back up ready, didn't you?"

Naruto grinned, and let out a cheerful laugh. His toothy smile was infectious, and even Sasuke let out the slightest convulsive exhalation that might have been mistaken for a short, near silent chuckle.

A pair of Naruto look-alikes came out of the bushes to their left, holding a struggling, hissing cat between them.

"I realized it might be a good idea, yeah," said the blond, glancing with no small amount of pride at the sight of the captured feline. "You mind cooling his jets, Sasuke? I don't want that little prick bursting my clones with his flailing."

The Uchiha snorted.

"A waste of my talents," he drawled, but there was the slightest hint of good humor in his tone. Taking a step forward, he locked eyes with the ornery, brown-striped tomcat. The feline froze up for a second, before it calmed down, relaxing.

Tora went to sleep in the arms of Naruto's shadow clones.

Sakura beamed. She raised one of her hands, putting her fingers up in a V. Striking a cute pose, she declared:

"Yes! Flawless victory!"

Sasuke smirked. Naruto let out a hearty laugh.

Team Seven proceeded to the mission center with their pacified target in tow.

* * *

Tayuya could not help but wonder where they had screwed up.

Orochimaru-sama's latest mission for them had seemed laughably simple. Infiltrating one of the five great villages and abducting one of the last surviving possessors of an ancient and powerful bloodline? That was nothing for the Sound Four. It should have been mere child's play.

She and her teammates were the best of the best. In all of Otogakure, only three people could be considered outright more skilled than them. One was Orochimaru-sama himself, another was his little sycophant (sneaky bugger that he was), and the third was bedridden with a terminal illness.

The Sound Four were the elite of the Hidden Sound, the most excellent shinobi in Orochimaru-sama's village. Even that fatass Jirobo was a level above any ordinary ninja, and they had already infiltrated Konoha once before, when it _hadn't_ been suffering from a lack of manpower due to a recent invasion.

Perhaps they HAD come in a little too cocky, in hindsight, but who could blame them?

They were the _Sound-fucking-Four_. They DESERVED to be cocky. They were each worth a dozen of those Konoha tree-huggers.

Personally, Tayuya blamed Kidomaru for mucking things up. If his little _"spy-ders" _had actually been worth a damn, they would have found their target right away. Most of the Leaf's jounin and chuunin were out of the village on missions, according to the spider-summoner's intel. Konoha's higher ups couldn't afford to spare anyone worth mentioning to keep an eye on the Uchiha brat.

It should have been a quick in-and-out affair. Kidomaru's spiders had been covertly scoping out the village ever since the invasion, gathering intelligence on patrol routes and general street layout. She'd sneak them in under cover of genjutsu, Kidomaru would lead them to the target, and Sakon would give him the offer.

Sure, they had been aware of the possibility that Sasuke might initially turn them down, but it would be no problem for them to rough the brat up. Even _Jirobo_ could probably take the Uchiha in a fight.

In theory, they should have been able to slip in, get Sasuke to come with them, and head back to the Sound Village before those leafy dumbasses were any the wiser.

_In theory._

The kid had been in the hospital when they got there. Incapacitated or some shit, she didn't know. Point was, they shouldn't have faced any kind of meaningful resistance.

But apparently Kidomaru – that spider-fucking _retard_ – got mixed up and led them to the **wrong damn room.**

Normally, this wouldn't have been too much of a problem. Just a minor setback.

If not for who was _in_ that room.

Apparently the patient there had just gotten back from some kind of surgery. He was a pretty ugly little bastard, with those big ass eyebrows and that stupid looking bowl hair cut. But he was out like a light.

That pigtailed blonde, however...

Tayuya resisted the urge to wince at the memory.

Apparently the new Hokage _just so happened_ to be one of Orochimaru-sama's former teammates. And she had not been very happy at having her post-op drink interrupted.

In hindsight, Tayuya _really_ should have taken Jirobo's advice for once and held her damn tongue.

The First Hokage's granddaughter did **NOT** take kindly to being called a "big-titted whore".

Tayuya let out a hiss, shivering in the cool air of ANBU T&amp;I's top security holding cells. She mentally swore to castrate that damn white-haired pervert who'd applied those chakra-suppressing seals to her breasts.

Just because that happened to be where _her particular curse seal _was located...

She cursed.

These ANBU assholes were as bad at giving people their personal space as Kabuto. Especially that one-eyed old geezer.

Tayuya didn't even want to THINK about what that dirty old creep might have meant when he'd said _"the Foundation"_ would find use for her and her teammates.

She was sure it wouldn't be anything good.

Woman's intuition at its finest.

* * *

_"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura... before I leave for this mission, I want to make sure you all understand something."_

_"Huh? What is it, Kaka-sensei?"_

_"It's a story I've been meaning to tell you kids... the story of how I got this sharingan eye..."_

Sakura winced in sympathy for Tora as the daimyo's wife crushed the poor thing to her bosom. Sasuke looked like he was just barely resisting the urge to say something snide about their client.

Naruto looked sheepish as he recounted the basic events of the mission back to one of the clerical ninja manning the mission desk. He was gesticulating awkwardly, trying to find the right words.

His teammates had REPEATEDLY stressed the importance of professionalism following his promotion, and so the blond was trying very hard to not make an ass of himself.

"Well, after Sakura-ch...erm, well, after _Sakura_... um, sighted the target, me and Sasuke... or is that, ah, Sasuke and I...?" Naruto rambled, stumbling nervously over his words as he tried to report to an increasingly unimpressed-looking shinobi at the desk.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, watching Naruto practically overheat as he attempted to deliver a concise and professional mission report. The blond looked unnaturally stiff, and he was sweating bullets.

"Naruto, you hopeless dolt..." he thought, briefly wondering how he could have ever felt _intimidated_ by this joker.

"...and I, er... had sent some of my shadow clones to, y'know, um, go around the area in a... er... umm... a circle, like... ah... and they came in closer and, erm, when the cat bolted, well they, uh... y'know, one of them was in front of him and, ah..."

Sakura winced, seeing how anxious Naruto sounded. Part of her wanted to step in and finish things up for him, because honestly this was just _embarrassing_, but a look from Sasuke stopped her before she could.

"He needs to do this," Sasuke mouthed.

Sakura reluctantly stepped back.

She knew what he meant. Naruto, for whatever abilities he may have possessed, had nonetheless been shoved rather unceremoniously into a leadership position with his promotion, and he really had no idea what to do with it.

It was sink or swim time for the blond, and Naruto was the sort of person who had to learn things firsthand. And he _needed_ to learn how to function in the system. Until recently, Kakashi had been the one handling all the yellow tape and bureaucracy for them, but now it was time to do these things for themselves.

Especially in Naruto's case.

How could the boy ever hope to become hokage if he couldn't even deliver a simple mission report without freaking out? He would have to learn these important little skills sooner or later.

Preferably sooner, if he was going to be acting as their team captain.

Sakura sighed, and looked sidelong at Naruto, thinking of what Kakashi-sensei had told them.

_"You don't have what it takes to be a leader, Naruto,"_ he had spoken rather bluntly. _"Not yet, at least. There are a lot of things you still need to learn, and you won't always have me or Jiraiya-sama around to teach you."_

He had looked at her and Sasuke then, and his words had held a certain degree of weariness to them.

_"I'm sorry to saddle the two of you with this... but with the state of the village, I probably won't be around that much. You three will need to go on missions without me, and that means you and Sasuke will have to follow Naruto's lead._

_"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't question his orders. None of you are really ready to be leading squads, Naruto least of all... but it can't be helped. You three will have to work together, and help each other grow. There haven't been any obvious signs of it yet, but... one of the other villages might very well try to take advantage of Konoha's present, weakened state."_

He had looked at her especially when he said this, a grim look in his eye.

_"You know what I'm getting at, right, Sakura?"_

She had. She did.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but what Kakashi had been saying made too much sense to brush off.

_"You... don't really think... a __**war**__ would start, do you...?" _she had whispered, feeling a numbness in the pit of her stomach.

It was a hard thing for them to fathom, wasn't it? Kids like them... they had grown up in a time of peace. The Sand-Sound invasion had been their first taste of real battle, of what war between shinobi villages was like.

Sakura would have been happy to assume that things would somehow go back to normal after the invasion, that peace would return and things would be okay. But Kakashi had reluctantly shattered those illusions.

Reluctantly, she said, and _reluctant_ he had clearly sounded.

_"I know you might like to hope that the invasion was just a one-off thing... it was tragic, to be sure, but you want to believe that it's over, and that nothing else will come of it. And I wish I could let you keep those illusions... but you three need to be ready, if that time does come. You might just be children, but your abilities have already distinguished you from your peers._

_"...yes, even you, Sakura. If a war does break out, you three will have to be able to trust each other unconditionally. You will need to work together perfectly on every mission you take. You... will have to be willing to die for each other, and for the village. _

_"Because one of you might very well _need_ to." _

Sakura wanted to think that Kakashi was just worrying about nothing. That no war would break out, and they would have plenty of time to grow into their roles as shinobi.

And maybe they would. But they couldn't afford to be complacent.

If a day ever came when they would have to follow Naruto's lead into a life-or-death situation, Sakura knew that she and Sasuke would want him to be as good of a leader and a shinobi as he could be. She knew that Naruto wasn't there yet.

She knew that she wasn't where she wanted to be, yet, either. None of them were. They still had so much room for improvement. There was so much they still had yet to learn.

Sakura would support Naruto and Sasuke no matter what, and she wanted to believe they would do the same for her.

She wouldn't let them end up like Kakashi-sensei and his own team.

* * *

Sasuke's mood was unreadable as Team Seven departed from the mission center. The hour grew late, and they had been dismissed for the day with no further assignments. Tomorrow would bring new missions and more work, but for today they were finally free to go home and rest.

Naruto looked relieved just to have finally gotten out of the mission office. Sakura seemed mildly pensive, but then she had become prone to falling into thought over the past few days.

Sasuke was sure that his female teammate still had trouble putting everything they had recently learned into perspective. He himself felt a little staggered every time he mused on it.

And it was not just the fact that Naruto was the kyuubi's jinchuuriki. While it shocked and frightened him at first, Sasuke had quickly come to see that Naruto was still the same idiot as ever.

Eventually he had accepted that the blond wasn't going to lose it and unleash that monster on everything in sight. Not any time soon, at least. As a matter of fact, it seemed that Naruto had only recently learned how to access its chakra, and even then used it almost exclusively to supplement his own energies in performing high level ninjutsu.

Jinchuuriki were on a whole other level from ordinary shinobi with their immense chakra, not to mention the raw destructive potential of a bijuu transformation. You couldn't judge the power of a demon vessel by the same standards as you judged an ordinary human.

And from what little Sasuke knew of jinchuuriki, Naruto really _was_ an idiot. Each of the bijuu was documented to possess unique nature transformations, as well as various other powers which could be accessed by their containers.

The Ichibi possessed magnet-style chakra, and could manipulate sand in ways that no human could match. The Nibi had fire-style chakra, an affinity strong enough to surpass even that of the Uchiha. The Sanbi used water-style, and was said to also have many other tricks.

The Yonbi and Gobi had lava and steam elements, respectively. The Rokubi, Nanabi, and Hachibi's chakra natures were less well-documented, but one was known to spit acid, another was capable of flight, and the last had all the powers of an ox, a man, and an octopus, with the second vastest chakra of all the bijuu.

Gaara had been able to use his demon's ninjutsu style almost flawlessly. His sand manipulation was like nothing Sasuke had ever seen, strange and fearsome powers truly worthy of a jinchuuriki.

Naruto... couldn't even perform an ordinary clone jutsu.

Yeah.

He threw shadow clones around like confetti, to be sure, but _still_ he couldn't even make a convincing, functioning _bunshin_.

Kyuubi was supposedly the most fearsome of the bijuu, with the greatest share of power, an innate wind affinity with which it could level mountains and spill lakes, and a ruthless ferocity which let it overwhelm any foe set before it.

His ancestor Madara had personally hunted down and enslaved the beast with his sharingan, binding it to a summoning contract to use as a weapon, **because** its power was said to be the greatest of any living thing on this earth.

When you held him up to that sort of standard, even with his recent spurts of growth Naruto still looked very weak and inept. The Uchiha clan had extensive documentation on the Nine-Tails, and had copies of most existing literature regarding jinchuuriki.

Sasuke had read up enough on these and related subjects to know just how far below the curve Naruto's apparent strength was for a jinchuuriki.

After learning of the blond's identity as the kyuubi jinchuuriki, Sasuke had hurried back to his old clan compound as soon as he was discharged from the hospital. He had spent hours delving into the clan's oldest scrolls, seeking for mention of jinchuuriki.

Truthfully, his initial motivations had been perhaps a little selfish. He had hoped to find some clues to how Madara had managed to control the Nine-Tails, either to implement such methods himself, or to find out how to break that control should things come to that.

There had been no documentation on _how_ Madara had been able to control the kyuubi, save that his particular iteration of the sharingan had been exceptionally potent. Sasuke had, however, found passing mentions of some very interesting things, even apart from references to bijuu and their containers.

The first one to catch his eye was a passage from one of the last pages of one Izuna Uchiha's diaries – an entry which had apparently been dictated to one Sakuya Uchiha, and was dated back to a couple of years before the founding of Konoha.

Apparently this Izuna had been Madara's younger brother. The name was not familiar to Sasuke, but then he had never before studied that much of his family's history pre-Konoha.

In this diary entry, however, which was written in a different hand from those before it, marked as transcribed from the man's dictations, Izuna spoke of the mangekyo sharingan. He referred to it as "a power most bitter" which both he and his elder brother had attained following an attempted coup within the clan. He also spoke of wars with the Senju, and how the power acquired through those eyes had been invaluable to them in the many conflicts.

Additionally, he spoke of the blindness which resulted from overuse of those very eyes, (though he described it in much more poetic terms) and how both he and his brother had been rendered nearly sightless. Lastly he mentioned _"giving the last of [his] light"_ to his brother, commenting that through a mingling of blood between siblings, a new level of the sharingan was apparently attained.

_"My honored brother has achieved what we would have thought otherwise impossible... a perfected forme of that kaleidoscopic mirror-wheel, a visual prowess transcending even the mangekyou which we have prized so greatly in these recent years... eyes blessed with an eternal light, never dimming. In sacrifice of my own sight, I have given my brother a mighty boon with which he will surely deliver our clan from this endless cycle of bloodshed and hate."_

Sasuke had felt a chill go down his spine when he read this, an ominous foreboding.

The mangekyo sharingan had a fatal flaw... a flaw which could only be corrected by taking the mangekyo eyes of an Uchiha with the same blood.

Was this why Itachi had left him alive...? To serve as an avenue for him to attain an even higher power?

Sasuke shuddered at the thought.

Setting aside those grim thoughts, however, he had then resumed his search. And aside from coming across references to research performed by the Nidaime into the sharingan's origins, the only other thing of note that Sasuke had found was a single surviving passage from the memoirs of the clan head to succeed Madara.

Under other circumstances he would have skimmed over it, if not for the appearance of a very familiar name.

_"...and upon that day, after Madara was vanquished and the kyuubi was sealed, Mito Uzumaki swore her troth to Hashirama Senju, Lord First Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and there was much rejoicing among all the people..."_

It wasn't said outright, but Sasuke was smart. He knew enough to read between the lines.

The kyuubi was _sealed away_, it said?

That was interesting. VERY interesting.

Certainly, most Konoha schoolchildren knew the story of how the First Hokage had prevailed against the treacherous Madara Uchiha, casting him down and slaying him at the Valley of the End. It was also known that Madara had summoned the kyuubi to use it against the Shodaime. There was even a fresco depicting as much at the Naka shrine (although no one visited it these days).

But that the kyuubi had been _sealed?_ No, the only accounts of the battle that Sasuke had ever heard simply referred, rather nebulously, to the Nine-Tails being "defeated" or "banished".

However, if it really had been "sealed"... well, the name of _Uzumaki_ could hardly be a coincidence, in that case.

It had explained a lot of things, but it also raised a number of other questions.

Sasuke sighed as he thought back on these revelations, walking home from the mission office. He still wasn't entirely certain what to think of Naruto, anymore... but he was sure of at least one thing.

Sooner or later, Itachi would come for Naruto. Whether it was for his own purposes or the goals of his organization, it seemed clear to Sasuke that his traitorous older brother desired the power of the Nine-Tails.

Sasuke would do everything in his power to keep his brother from getting it.

He could not let Naruto fall into Itachi's hands.

* * *

A/N: Been a little bit since the previous chapter, haha... had no idea where to go from where I left off, at first... eventually I decided on a short timeskip and... whatever this chapter is.

Updated: 11-16-14

TTFN and R&amp;R!

– — ❤


	7. Heaven and Earth

**Unbiased**

A _Naruto_ fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Adventure (maybe?)

Characters/Pairings: Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto; [N/A]

Summary: Fairness is a nice idea, but tricky to actually work out in practice. Tsunade, however, at least intends to give credit where credit is due. Set before the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The chirp of an alarm pierced Sakura Haruno's sleep.

She groaned, rolling over in her futon.

Cracking emerald eyes open, she blearily stared at her alarm clock for a handful of seconds. It was dark outside, still, and although she had gotten herself to sleep before seven, Sakura was nonetheless drowsy and slow to process what she was seeing.

_4:30 am._

Briefly, the pinkette pondered researching some manner of time-warping kinjutsu so she could get some more damn sleep. It took her a moment, in her present somnolent haze, to realize that such a thing was very unlikely to exist.

And even if it did, she certainly wouldn't be able to use it at her present skill level.

Resisting the urge to curse under her breath, Sakura silently motivated herself with thoughts of the training to come. Or she tried to, at least.

But thinking about all of _that_ before even getting out of bed really just made her want to pull the covers over her head and pretend she hadn't heard her alarm going off. Only by stubbornly swearing to kick her own ass if she did not get up _right now_ was Sakura able to convince herself to throw off the covers and get dressed.

Pausing only to make her bed and brush her teeth, Sakura changed out of her pajamas. She threw on a pair of ratty old clothes that she wouldn't care about ruining, grabbing a stopwatch and a water bottle.

It was around quarter to five by the time Sakura got outside. The sun was close to an hour from rising as she started her morning run, and she could still see the moon in the sky.

Sakura started off at a walking pace, breathing in the crisp morning air to wake herself up. Her eyelids were still feeling a little heavy, and she yawned more than once over the first five minutes, but now that she was up and outside she was actually able to remember the firm resolve which had kept her persevering through this physical training regimen.

Once she was fully conscious and no longer feeling the temptation to turn back and return to her bed, Sakura picked up her pace. She went gradually faster as she warmed up, loosening her muscles with light exercise.

By the five minute mark, Sakura was going at a brisk jog. At fifteen minutes she was running. And by the time she reached a half hour, Sakura was at her effective top speed, lungs burning, chest heaving, stabbing pains shooting through her legs.

She slowed back down through jogging to speedwalking, taking five more minutes to cool herself off and relax her leg muscles.

At roughly twenty past five, Sakura was back at her house. Drenched with sweat and smelling like something had died and crawled down her shirt three weeks ago, she went up to her room and grabbed a clean change of clothes and a bathrobe.

One brief shower later – taking only enough time to do a quick scrub and rinse – Sakura was going through a few simple kata to speed up her drip drying. Nothing particularly wild or intense, but it was important to practice the basic forms. By five thirty-five, Sakura was fully dressed and out of the bathroom.

Heading down to the kitchen, Sakura prepared herself a simple but hearty breakfast. After the events of the Chuunin Exam's second phase, she had cast aside the petty concerns of dieting and gone to her parents for help in getting stronger.

Though career genin themselves, Kizashi and Mebuki were still experienced in the basics, and glad to hear that their daughter was ready to take her training seriously. Sakura's dad had helped her draw up a suitable training regimen, and her mom had taken to showing her a few simple tricks with make up to conceal the various little scrapes and bruises.

"It's not just a matter of vanity for us kunoichi," Mebuki had said with a wink as she showed Sakura how to get just the right colors to imitate skin tone. "Men are less likely to consider a girl a threat, especially if she looks cute and harmless... a smart kunoichi takes the time to doll herself up _just enough_ to hide the fruits of her training..."

It was amazing how much one could obfuscate the slow build up of muscle and callouses with simple tricks of clothing arrangement. Just by slightly changing _how_ she wore her clothes, Sakura could make it look like she hadn't gained any muscle tone since the second stage of the Chuunin Exams.

With the slightest subtle touches of make up, Mebuki had taught her daughter how to make herself look cute and nonthreatening. Aside from that, the woman had also taken to preparing hearty, protein-rich bento to help Sakura close the gap between her and her teammates.

Kizashi, being a big and physically powerful man, despite not having all that much skill as a ninja, had shown his little girl all sorts of little tricks for maximizing the efficiency of muscle gain, as well as teaching her a few useful locks and holds that he had picked up over the years.

He helped her with shurikenjutsu and simple techniques, sparring with his daughter when they had the time, and teaching her a few simple but nifty jutsu. Sakura was a clever girl and a quick learner. With her only weaknesses being a comparatively weak body and lackluster stamina – and these were things she had spent a better part of the past two months training every day to overcome – she had a good amount of potential.

"Honestly, dear... I'm surprised at how quickly you're improving. I think you might already be more skilled than me and your mother," Kizashi had said thoughtfully one day, a few weeks into training with his daughter.

"...Although that doesn't mean you're _stronger_ than us!" He'd added a moment later with a hearty laugh.

Sakura's parents, while overall mediocre shinobi, still had many things they could teach their daughter, and with them helping her along the way she had honestly seen a drastic improvement in her weakest areas.

She was not as fast or apt with ninjutsu as Sasuke-kun, to be sure, or as strong or hardy as Naruto, but she was improving. It would be a while before she could stand alongside her teammates as an equally capable shinobi, but she was getting there.

She had promised herself, after all. One day, Naruto and Sasuke would be the ones watching _her_ back as she protected them.

She _would _protect them. They were her comrades.

That was Sakura's promise of a lifetime.

* * *

It was seven in the morning when Sasuke arrived at the team's meeting spot. Sakura was there well ahead of him, practicing her shurikenjutsu.

Sweat beaded down her brow, emerald eyes intently focused on the task at hand. Kunai slipped from between her fingers, loosed in a calculated trajectory. Flight swift and straight brought a full salvo of throwing knives ten meters through the air, their journey coming to an end in the chest of a straw and rolled-tatami training dummy.

It was a rough circle of iron, each blade only an inch or two from its fellows. Rips and tears in the tatami – which Sasuke's eyes could effortlessly pick out even from this distance – showed where prior barrages had landed.

For the most part, he could tell that Sakura's throws had been fairly precisely clustered around the areas corresponding with soft or vital points.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting, giving his teammate a lazy movement of the arm that could perhaps be interpreted as a halfhearted wave.

"Hm," Sakura grunted, giving a short nod to show that she heard him. "Hi, Sasuke-kun."

Her lips quirked up at the corners, and her eyes twinkled a bit brighter than before, but she otherwise showed no sign of relenting from her training.

Sasuke couldn't help the smirk that crept onto his face. He did not ask his female teammate how long she had been at this, but simply sat down in a spot close enough to keep an eye on her progress while still giving her enough space to practice.

Adopting the lotus pose, Sasuke took a slow, deep breath and closed his eyes.

He had already done his usual morning exercises, and it would probably be a little while yet before Naruto arrived. He should have enough time for contemplation and cleansing.

Sakura would not disturb his meditation.

_han nya ha ra mit-ta shin gyou_  
_kan ji zai bo satsu gyou jin han_  
_nya ha ra mit-ta ji shou ken _  
_go un kai kuu do is-sai ku yaku_

Sasuke chanted the verses of the heart sutra, his voice low and soft, like a breeze whispering through the leaves. He was still, motionless, legs crossed and eyes closed as he focused on the core of his being.

_sha ri shi shiki fu i kuu kuu_  
_i fu shiki shiki soku ze kuu kuu _  
_soku ze shiki ju sou gyou shiki yaku_  
_bu nyo ze sha ri shi ze sho_

The steady, intermittent _thunk thunk thunk _of shuriken impacting training dummies was soothing in its own way, a calming repetition as rhythmic and natural as waves lapping at the shore.

Sasuke's chakra flowed freely, unfettered in meditation. It seeped through every fiber of his being, enriching and relaxing him. He emptied himself of worries, devoting the entirety of his mind to the chant, forgetting for a time all things but the syllables which he formed with his mouth.

_hou kuu sou fu shou fu metsu fu_  
_ku fu jou fu zou fu gen ze_  
_ko kuu chuu-mu shiki-mu ju sou gyou shiki_

He felt the prick of the curse mark at the edge of his consciousness. A deep energy thrummed within it, a well of power longing to be tapped. For an instant, the temptation to release the evil-suppressing seal flickered in his heart.

But Sasuke quashed this desire, remembering what Lord Jiraiya had told him.

* * *

_mu gen ni bi zetsu shin i mu_  
_shiki shou kou mi soku hou mu gen_  
_kai nai shi mu i shiki kai mu_  
_mu myou yaku mu mu myou jin nai_

Jiraiya glowered sternly down at Sasuke, arms crossed over his chest. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi had all left. The first two had needed to be all but ushered out of the room.

"Don't use that curse mark," he said gruffly, tersely. "Your body can't handle that kind of power."

Sasuke's eyes flashed, and he looked up at the man, dark and defiant.

"Then I just need to get stronger, right?" he said, his voice low. "I can't keep suppressing this forever. Every time I'm pushed to my limit..."

He grimaced, a hand unconsciously going to the back of his neck. The _juuin_ burned in his skin, pricking at the back of his mind with honeyed whispers of power, tempting promises of strength such as he could never imagine, if he would only just _submit_.

"It's not a matter of strength," Jiraiya replied, and his eyes held something like a mix of disdain and – _pity?_ "At least, not any kind of strength that you would be able to reach."

_shi mu rou shi yaku mu rou shi_  
_jin mu ku shuu metsu dou mu chi_  
_yaku mu toku i mu sho toku-ko bo_  
_dai sat ta e han nya ha ra_

Sasuke's temper flared at these words, the implication behind them. This man was saying he was weak – that he could not handle the curse mark, that he would never be able to handle it.

For a moment, Sasuke wanted dearly to rip away Kakashi's suppressing seal and beat the pitying look off of that old bastard's face. Onyx eyes ignited, burning crimson. Twin commas ringed black pupils.

"I am not weak," Sasuke hissed through grit teeth. "I'm not! I am...!"

"I didn't say that you _were_," Jiraiya replied, seeming entirely unfazed by the flare up of Sasuke's doujutsu. "But that doesn't make you strong. Not compared to someone like me, or Orochimaru – or your _brother_."

A heavy silence followed that statement. Sasuke glared daggers at Jiraiya, his lips curling back.

"Maybe not now..." he whispered, clenching his fists. "But I'll get stronger... strong enough to defeat Itachi, and avenge my clan!"

Jiraiya shrugged, and he waved a hand dismissively.

"Maybe you will," he said. "And maybe you won't. Even if you did, though, I still doubt you would have what it takes to handle that curse mark."

_mit-ta ko shin mu kei gei mu_  
_kei gei ko mu u ku fu on_  
_ri is-sai ten dou mu sou ku gyou ne_

"And how can you be so sure of that?" Sasuke growled. He was tense, and the curse mark was howling in his ears, thick and potent chakra roiling furiously within its confines.

Jiraiya let out a sigh. He stood motionless beside Sasuke's bed, and closed his eyes.

Sasuke bit back a snarl at this apparent dismissal of his inquiries. His fingers twitched. The Uchiha was tense, a glint of something wild and wary in his sharingan.

But then he saw something that gave him pause. The chakra of the man before him... it was _changing_.

_han san ze sho butsu e han nya_  
_ha ra mit-ta ko toku a noku_  
_ta ra san myaku san bo dai ko_  
_chi han nya ha ra mit-ta ze_

Eyes widened. Even if it wasn't yet fully matured, Sasuke's doujutsu could still see the signs of _something_ changing in Jiraya's chakra. It seemed to... fill out, for lack of a better description, growing deeper and richer.

It was different. Sasuke's sharingan could read something of the changes in the man's chakra, but he felt like he was seeing only a small part of what was happening. He was _aware_ of the difference in the man's chakra, but he was also aware that what he saw was only an indirect observation.

He felt like a blind man trying to describe the sun. Sasuke _knew_ it was there; he could see the shifting in the man's chakra, the changes in his flesh, but there was something missing, something he realized he was not seeing.

Something he _could not see_.

It was something that felt strangely familiar, yet _different_, like quilts made with the same fabric but knitted in different weaves.

"Orochimaru's curse mark..." Jiraiya said, opening his eyes to meet Sasuke's gaze. "...is derived from senjutsu. Human chakra incorporating natural energy in equal proportion to mind and body. It's a power that even a shinobi of _my_ level can only barely handle."

Sasuke stared.

His eyes narrowed.

_dai jin shu ze dai myou shu ze_  
_mu jou shu ze mu tou dou shu_  
_nou jo is-sai ku shin jitsu fu_  
_ko ko setsu han nya ha ra mit_

"But... it's _possible_ to control it...?" he muttered.

Jiraiya met Sasuke's eyes, and shook his head.

"The last man to master this power was the Lord First Hokage," the man said. "Someone who excelled in all fields of the ninja arts, with a power so vast that he was called _shinobi no kami_. It's _possible_ to master sage chakra in the same sense that it's _possible_ to fling a kunai to the moon."

Sasuke deflated. Something about the absolute certainty in the man's tone got to him.

He saw Jiraiya let go of whatever he had taken into himself, his chakra returning to its normal state, his body reverting to how it naturally looked.

Sasuke collapsed back into the bed, his sharingan deactivating.

"I can't let this curse mark hold me back..." he muttered, eyes dark. "I refuse to be limited by the need to restrain this thing."

Jiraiya's face was unreadable.

"Just don't let it consume you," the man said quietly. "You've got potential, kid. It'd be a shame to see it all thrown away in fit of pique."

Sasuke did not respond.

He closed his eyes.

_ta shu soku setsu shu watsu_  
_gya tei gya tei ha ra gya tei_  
_ha ra sou gya tei bo ji so wa ka_

* * *

Back in the present, Sasuke opened his eyes. He exhaled slowly, feeling the sun on the back of his neck. A slight breeze ruffled his hair.

The itch of the curse mark pawing at the back of his mind was distant now, faded to almost nothing. Its power felt... not _weaker_, exactly, but more manageable, thrumming gently behind the confines of Kakashi's evil-sealing method.

Coming out of his meditation, the temptation to release the curse mark's power was very small, a brief and passing notion that he easily rebuffed. Detached from the baser emotions which the curse mark preyed upon, Sasuke could safely use his own chakra to its limit without fear of creating an opening for Orochimaru's little time bomb.

It was not permanent by any means. He would need to meditate again, exhort himself to continue defying that temptation, and rebuke those parts of his mind and soul which hungered for power at any cost.

But Sasuke was not his brother. He would not let himself go down the same path as that man. He would grow strong on his own terms, by his own methods.

He was no man's pawn.

Looking over his shoulder, feeling refreshed and at peace, Sasuke noticed Sakura in a similar pose to himself. He smiled wryly, seeing the sweat which lingered on her skin.

The girl had been working hard. She was no longer the person he had remonstrated for being _even worse_ than Naruto. Not that that would mean as much _now_.

But she'd been doing her best to get stronger. She wasn't there yet, from what Sasuke had seen, but she was making an earnest effort. She was throwing herself into her training, holding nothing back in her quest to improve.

Sasuke could respect that. She was much more tolerable now that she had begun to take her career seriously.

He chuckled, catching himself looking rather intently at the girl.

"Heh... she seems a lot cuter like this..." he whispered to himself.

A moment passed before Sasuke registered what he had just said. Then he blushed, and violently shook his head.

He did not notice the slightest hint of redness which crept into Sakura's cheeks.

* * *

For better or worse, before Sasuke and Sakura could find themselves getting too cozy or curious, Naruto came bounding over the bridge and into the training grounds. He was beaming as brightly as a signal flare, grinning wide and all but skipping over to his teammates.

The blond had apparently opted to wear his flak vest today. He had the same orange trousers on as ever, but it was sadly neither practical nor comfortable for him to wear the vest over his favorite blue and orange coat. Naruto had thusly bemoaned the lack of orange flak vests, and still tended to waffle between whether or not to wear the thing.

On one hand, he was obviously happy to show off his new rank, and the privileges afforded to him as a chuunin. On the other hand, he was also very fond of his old track suit, and the color orange in general.

Today, it seemed that his desire to remind people of his recent promotion had outweighed his love for his old outfit.

"Yooo, Sasuke! Sakura!" Naruto cheered, bouncing over to his two teammates. "Have a nice nap?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Sakura suppressed a slight giggle. They stood up from their meditating positions, waving to their teammate in greeting.

"Hey, Naruto," said Sasuke. He noticed a scroll in the blond's hand, and pointed at it. "You got a new mission for us?"

Naruto nodded cheerfully, his grin widening (if that were possible).

"A B-rank!" he said, barely able to repress his enthusiasm.

Sasuke felt a quiver of excitement himself. Sakura frowned slightly, though.

"Just the three of us?" she murmured. "That seems dangerous."

"Nah," Naruto replied. "This is gonna be one of those two-squad deals. A joint mission."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

"Two squads?" he said. "As in, _four man squads?_"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess the client for this was real set on getting the best deal for his money, so we'll be getting a fourth team member for this job."

"Do you know who it is?" Sakura inquired. "That we'll be working with, I mean."

"Shikamaru's team," Naruto said, "plus Neji and Hinata."

Sasuke furrowed his brow.

"_Who?_" he said, frowning.

"Neji was Naruto's opponent in the third phase of the exams," Sakura said. "You weren't there for the fight, but I'm sure you remember him. And Hinata was in our graduating class at the academy. She's Neji's cousin."

"Ah." Sasuke grimaced. "_Hyuuga?_ Well, I guess they'll be good for reconnaissance."

"Neji's a real good fighter," Naruto added. "Even more dangerous in close range than Bushy Brows."

"What about... _Hinata_, was it?" Sasuke inquired. "That name doesn't really ring a bell."

"She's kind of a wallflower," Sakura conceded. "But she was very brave in her match against Neji. Especially with... oh, a certain _someone_ cheering her on."

Sakura gave Naruto a meaningful look.

The blond completely missed her point.

"Yeah!" he chirped. "She might be kinda weird, but that Hinata's got real guts!"

Sasuke hummed.

"_Hinata_..." he muttered, frowning. "...that wouldn't happen to be written the same as _Hyuuga_, would it?"

"Maybe," Sakura said with a shrug. "It _could be_, at any rate."

Sasuke grumbled, muttering some unfavorable things about wordplay and puns.

Sweatdropping slightly, Sakura turned to Naruto.

"So," she said. "Do you know who'll be on our squad, then?"

"No, Granny didn't say," Naruto answered. He hummed thoughtfully. "...I kinda hope we don't get stuck with Neji, though."

"I thought you said he was strong?" Sasuke interjected.

"Crazy skilled, yeah," Naruto nodded in agreement. He squinted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But he's also kind of a _total jerk_."

Sakura suddenly choked.

Which was unusual, seeing as how neither Naruto or Sasuke had seen her take anything but air into her mouth since the start of their conversation.

But then a voice interrupted their thoughts.

"Well, now," said Neji Hyuuga, walking up to Team Seven. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

Naruto at least had the decency to look sheepish.

* * *

A/N: A part of me was _strongly_ tempted to have Hinata be the one on their team for shippiness sake, but then I decided that Neji would probably have more to talk about.

And what is Team Seven's newest mission? Don't ask me, I haven't got the slightest clue yet! Haha...

Also, I can totally see Sasuke as one of those guys who is absolutely TERRIBLE at remembering names and faces... kinda channeling myself, in that respect, though in his case it's mostly out of aloof disinterest.

Additionally, I really like the idea of Sasuke taking up meditation to control his emotions and strengthen his resolve to not use the curse mark.

Canonically, allegedly half on ninja training is supposed to be about such things, but of course introspection and contemplation are not as visually interesting as training montages. So it seems like a really neat idea to me to focus more heavily on that aspect with someone who could have seriously benefited from regular meditation.

**Updated: **11-25-14

**TTFN and R&amp;R!**

– — ❤


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